


Home Is No More

by Winters_solstice



Series: Of Mechanical and Flesh Hearts [16]
Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Death, Destiny 2 Spoilers, F/M, Fluff, New Friends, Proposals, Reunions, Violence, more tags to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-25 01:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12024909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winters_solstice/pseuds/Winters_solstice
Summary: Lexi doesn't know what to do, ever since the Tower was attacked everything in her life has gone to Hell in a handbasket. Now she has to find those she loves, protect them, and rebuild their lives. Sounds relatively easy, except fate seems to get in the way at every turn.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You might've noticed I changed the name of the series, I wasn't too fond of the title that I never gave much thought into but needed a name for series nevertheless so I've changed it. Like one of the previous parts in the series this is going to be more than a chapter, how many chapters I have no idea. Which leads me on to say, I have no idea how long this part is going to take to complete, since I'm basing it from the plot (loosely) of Destiny 2 as I go along and play it.

Cayde had been pulled away from his familial duties to respond to a summons to the Hall by Ikora. However his daughter had grown to be much like him in recent years, so decided she was going to follow her father. Lexi followed not too far behind, watching happily as the two beings that held her love strolled casually ahead of her.  
"Zee really idolises Cayde." Lexi's Ghost that wasn't quite a Ghost stated, floating over her friend's shoulder.  
"She really does, doesn't she?" Lexi chuckled softly. Cayde threw a smile over his shoulder, his optics shining bright. He spun around and walked backwards, making an excited gesture between himself and the young girl. Lexi knew it meant 'look she's copying me, look, look!' She simply snickered in response, watching as Cayde spun back around to enter the Hall. While the Exo Vanguard discussed whatever Ikora had brought him in for, Lexi perched on the edge of the great table, pulling Ziva onto her lap.  
"I was thinking, how about you, me and daddy go out later? We'll have fun, have something good to eat."  
"Not ramen..." Ziva made a disgusted sound. The young girl may have been like her father in many ways, but the taste for ramen was the thing she lacked. Of course Cayde was shocked and almost, horrified to find out his daughter didn't like his favourite food. Lexi had assured him that it wasn't something important, perhaps she'd like it when she was older, then again Cayde still pouted until he was used to the idea, he adored doing everything together with his daughter. Lexi's little girl wasn't so little as she had been once, she was approaching her eighth Birthday, unlike some of the girls at her school, Ziva didn't care for pretty dresses or dolls, no she preferred getting her hands dirty. Whenever they had a spare few hours, Amanda would teach Ziva how to take apart and put back together simple machinery, she was more than adept at it, something that Phoebe believed was partly due to the girl's abilities. Just as she had grown, so had her powers. Ikora had been a blessing as Ziva grew up, teaching her how to focus and reel in her abilities, rather than having them lashing out, loose. Ziva adored her parents, she knew already that Cayde wasn't really her biological father, but treated him as if he was. Lexi knew it touched Cayde to know that his daughter loved him so.  
  
Another bolt of lightning and a deep boom of thunder echoed in the Hall. Ziva startled in Lexi's embrace. Zavala's booming voice called out over the room, Lexi's gaze fell to the ships emerging from the storm cloud. Both her organic and mechanical eye widened in horror.  
"Surely... no..." Lexi's heart jumped into her throat as she watched missiles head straight towards the Tower. Lexi covered Ziva's head as the first explosive hit, shaking the Tower, the lights flickered. Chaos erupted all around, people shouting and screaming, the Hall was falling to pieces. Lexi dashed from the table, heading directly to the safety of Zavala's shield. She glanced behind her, in dire search of Cayde. A cry nearly left her lips as she watched a part of the ceiling collapse just above Cayde. Luckily Ikora got him to safety just in time. Lexi helped pull people out of danger, pulling them into the shield. Her heart was beating hard and fast, she knew none of this was good, this was a full fledged assault on the City. A city unprepared. A sudden onslaught of missile fire became too much for the Awoken Vanguard to hold back. The floor beneath gave way, sharp cries escaped the lips of the small group. Lexi landed harshly, metal and concrete had shred parts of her clothes.  
"Cayde!" Lexi shouted, trying to find her Exo in the rubble. A grumbling Exo caught her attention, rushing over she caught the Hunter in a crushing hug.  
"Daddy!" Ziva cried, her face littered with small cuts.  
"Lex, get Zee out of here. Get the both of you evacuated, we've got some unwelcome party crashers." Cayde ordered, he then crouched, his fingers running over Ziva's wounds.  
"I'm not going to leave you!" Lexi argued.  
"We need to go." Phoebe fussed. Lexi looked between the Exo and her daughter.  
"Go." The Hunter Vanguard stated simply. Lexi nodded before lifting Ziva into arms, withdrawing her sidearm from her hip holster and leaving her lover behind.  
  
Lexi had never seen so many Cabal during her entirety of being on Patrol. They were over-running the Tower, an infestation of life taking horrors, making it near impossible to escape. She wanted to keep Ziva away from the terrors the outside world had, to keep her in the haven of the City, but now Lexi's choice was taken from her. The young woman put her daughter down, she placed a finger to her lips, silently telling her to be quiet. Lexi crouched down, reached out and grasped a grenade from an ammunition cache. She peered around the corner, seeing several Cabal stood, waiting for the next unlucky Guardian or even more unlucky Civilian to run into them. Swiftly Lexi activated the grenade and threw it amongst the Cabal. A moment passed, an explosion erupted, then relative quiet fell over the corridor. Peering back around, Lexi found the Cabal dead. Picking up Ziva, the young woman ran as quick as she could to get to an evacuation ship.  
"Mommy, what about our things?" Ziva asked gently.  
"Getting you out of here is more important than our things... things can be replaced, you sweetheart can't." Lexi cupped her daughter's face as she spoke. Despite her comment on material possessions, it was more the weapons and armour that she had in mind when she spoke that were stored in their quarters. Sure there were photographs and other possessions that she'd take if she could, but Ziva was more worried about her mother being safe. Even as young as she was, she'd heard what enemies lay beyond the wall, she knew that how herself and her mother were poorly dressed and armed for this fight. After ducking in and out of corridors, creeping across rooms and fighting when no other route was possible, Lexi managed to get to a ship. Civilians were filing quickly into the ship, most were injured in some way. She crouched down and held her daughter's hands.  
"Darling, you've got to be really brave for me and daddy okay? We need you to get on that ship, to get to safety far, far away from here. I need to help fight, I'll come and find you, I promise. But I need you to get on this ship."  
"Okay Mommy." Ziva wrapped her arms around Lexi's neck, hugging her tightly. Lexi felt her child shudder as she cried, the young woman couldn't help but cry herself, the fear finally setting in. Lexi turned to her Ghost.  
"Will you go with her? Keep her safe for me?" Lexi pleaded to Phoebe.  
"Of course. I was going to go with Zee anyway." The Ghost replied. Lexi leaned forward and pressed her lips to the Ghost's optic. Lexi gathered her daughter in her arms and hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go but knowing she must. Then she watched as the ship departed, her daughter safely inside.  
  
Lexi made the perilous way towards her quarters, hoping there was still something left of the habitation wing. There were several moments where she was surrounded, but with a quick release of energy, all enemies were obliterated. Her abilities weren't the best for close quarters combat in corridors, and with how powerful she was, she didn't want to cause another collapse. Lexi didn't like using her abilities while Ziva was nearby, she was afraid of what seeing the destruction she's capable of would do to her daughter. Part of her quarters had already collapsed, making it increasingly difficult to reach her armour and weapons. She hurried to ready herself for the fight ahead. The ceiling above her creaked and started to give way. Gunfire was heard above, a loud angered scream and a thump then sounded. Suddenly the ceiling finally gave, a metal beam pinning Lexi against the wall, the edge of it digging into her shoulder. A body dropped down with a cry into her quarters. A familiar face popped up from the wreckage.  
"Willow!" Lexi cried out.  
"Where's Zee?" Willow asked panicked.  
"On a ship. Gone." Lexi rasped out, trying to push away the beam. She watched as Willow stumbled over, her Ghost scanning the area, giving advice on where exactly to push. On the count of three the two women pushed the beam away, letting it drop onto the floor.  
"The Plaza is being overrun." Willow told Lexi, she removed her helmet and wiped her brow of sweat then replaced the armour. Hurriedly the two women, close friends and teammates, ran as fast as they could towards the Plaza. The fight was long and hard to reach the Plaza, Cabal were stalking down every corridor, in every room, searching for innocents to kill.  
  
Lexi gasped in horror as she burst out into the Plaza. Willow hadn't been exaggerating, the Plaza had become overrun. Glancing around she saw several other Guardians, whole Fireteams fighting against the Cabal. Lexi fought hard and fast, dispatching as many Cabal as possible, shielding as many Guardians in dire need of recovery as she could. It was taking a toll on her, despite adrenalin rushing through her veins, her ability to use her powers to fight was dwindling, she was soon forced to resort to her firearms. Lexi ducked behind large pieces of rubble, firing several shots into the nearest Cabal.  
"Lexi." Willow's voice sounded breathless, as if she'd had the wind kicked from her. Lexi turned to see her friend fall to her knees, the Hunter's Ghost lying on the ground, its optic dull. Lexi scrambled towards her friend, something was wrong. A cheer went up from the enemy forces, Lexi ignored the sound and tried to rush to Willow. The Hunter was on her knees, she was leaning on her arm, her elbow shaking, she was struggling to keep herself up. Then she fell forward, a Cabal firearm smoking at her back, her body sprawled on the ground. Lexi screamed, firing several shots into the Cabal, it crumpled to the Plaza floor with a thump, Lexi let out several more shots into the dead being. Quickly Lexi gathered Willow in her arms, pulling her onto her lap, she carefully took off her helmet, seeing the Hunter gasping for air.  
"Willow. Willow!" Lexi cried out, cupping her friend's cheek.  
"G-go." Willow choked out, the blood filling her mouth came sputtering out. Lexi held Willow's hand tightly, tears running down her cheeks.  
"C'mon Willow, get up, we need to fight, we need to get out of here, Zee is looking forward to seeing you and the team a-at her birthday party." Lexi tried not to choke up at her words, tried to convince herself that her dear friend was alright. Willow reached up and cupped Lexi's neck, a sad look filled her eyes. Then nothing. Lexi's heart almost stopped as her team leader went limp in her grasp. She shook her, trying to wake her.  
"C'mon Willow its not funny anymore." Lexi then turned to the Hunter's Ghost, picked it up and tapped the optic.  
"Why won't you resurrect her?" Lexi choked. Dropping the lifeless Ghost, Lexi held tightly onto Willow. Slowly her gaze fell to the rest of the Plaza, every Guardian had fallen and one by one were being executed. Anger and distraught filled her heart, filled her soul, a rage came over her. Abruptly, as Lexi held Willow tightly to her chest, she let out an agonized scream. She hadn't realised what had happened until she opened her eyes again. It wasn't just Guardians who were dead now, all the Cabal were torn to pieces. Dead. Lexi cuddled her friend's body for a long while, whispering at her to wake up, to stand up, to fight. There was silence in the Plaza.  
  
Lexi closed Willow's eyes, she pressed a kiss to her forehead then stood. Carefully Lexi removed an item from Willow's pocket, and tucked it away in one of hers. Her gaze fell to her friend.  
"You've served honourably," she then looked to the other fallen Guardians "You've all served honourably." Quickly Lexi fled from the Plaza, she knew there was nothing else she could do, staying there would ensure her death. Lexi stopped in her tracks, a heartbreaking thought came over her.  
"Cayde." She panicked. Where would she even start to look for him? What if he'd already been killed? Her legs shook, her fear set in deep. Where would she even go now? Was there anywhere left that was safe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since its been months since I last updated the series, I hope this was worth the wait x


	2. Chapter 2

Lexi pushed herself against the rubble of a collapsed bridge. Her breathing was fast and short, her head snapping in the direction of every little sound.  
"That was close." Lexi held her hand to her chest, trying to calm herself. Her gaze went upwards, watching as Cabal stalked the streets in their dozens, heavily armed and looking for survivors. Those who had been lucky enough to survive the initial attack on the City now considered themselves the opposite. They were hunted like animals, killed for sport. Lexi had escaped with her life twice now, merely moments away from death. Her legs went from under her, forcing her to drop to the floor. She had but a single bullet in her gun. Lexi had resorted to scavenging to stay alive, in a city where everything was burning or destroyed, food wasn't easy to get ahold of. She'd begun slipping into hopeless, with no idea how to escape the city, even less idea of where to go after that, Lexi was completely lost in her own self pity. Wrapping her torn cloak around her, Lexi settled into the small crevice in the rubble, perhaps she'd be safe there tonight. Perhaps not. Footsteps were coming closer and closer to where Lexi was hidden. Slowly she withdrew her gun and held it tightly. Still the footsteps came closer.  
"I won't let them kill me." She whispered, almost silently, to herself. The shadow of a figure loomed even closer now, almost on top of her. Lexi thrust her gun out as the origin of the steps came into view. It wasn't a Cabal. From the looks of the armour, they were a Guardian. The figure simply looked at her, holding their side in pain. Then they stumbled. Lexi pulled the Guardian towards her, shielding them from the patrol of Cabal about to go past. She held a finger to her lips, her gaze watching the patrol carefully. The Guardian placed their head on Lexi's shoulder, clearly exhausted and in a lot of pain.  
"We can't stay here." Lexi told them. Very carefully Lexi waited for the moment between patrols and helped support the Guardian as they walked further, stepping over rubble. Stepping over the dead body of a Guardian and civilians. The Guardian in her hold stumbled, a pained grunt leaving their lips.  
"Just a little further. If we don't move they'll catch us." Lexi pleaded. The Guardian nodded slowly and stumbled onwards.  
  
Abruptly the Guardian fell to their knees, taking Lexi with them. A small light ahead caught the young woman's attention.  
"Is... that...?" Lexi's brow furrowed. The Guardian looked up weakly. A moment passed and the light came closer, Lexi was astonished to see a Ghost. A Ghost which belonged to the Guardian beside her. Another moment passed and the Guardian relaxed relieved, no longer in pain or injured.  
"You're a sight for sore eyes, little Light." Lexi poked the Ghost.  
"We need to go, we need to get out of here." The Ghost was panicked, knowing it could lose its friend all over again. Lexi and the Guardian hid in the shadows and followed where the Ghost was directing them, hopefully to safety. It took two long days to reach the City Outskirts. No food, lack of water, no sleep. Both Lexi and the Guardian were exhausted. Their only company was one another. It was enough to not go insane.  
"Seraph..." Lexi mumbled quietly, her head tilted backwards, resting on a set of rocks. The Guardian took off their helmet, revealing a male Exo. He turned to look at the woman.  
"You good?" He asked softly.  
"Just hungry," she whispered quietly. "Where are we going?"  
"There was a vision."  
"You gonna follow it?" She asked. The Exo nodded.  
"You're... Cayde's girl aren't you?" He bent his knee and rested his arm on top.  
"Yeah..."  
"You... get your kid out?" He asked gingerly.  
"Got her on an evacuation ship, reckon she'll be off world now since they evacuated the planet." Lexi mumbled, Ziva had occupied her thoughts since she'd left on the ship. Lexi couldn't help but sniffle at the thought of her daughter all alone. Well not quite alone but still.  
"I don't know where she is... I don't know where Cayde is..." Lexi fretted.  
"Cayde can handle himself. Sure he's bound to get into trouble somehow, but its Cayde so what does anyone expect. Your kid, from what I hear she's strong, got best qualities from both her parents." The Exo offered.  
"You ever met her?" Lexi wondered.  
"Few times, whenever Cayde's managed to sneak her away from you." The Exo chuckled for the first time since they met.  
"Its good to hear that sound." Lexi pointed out.  
"Feels even better to do it." He replied. Lexi shivered from the cold, the weather was bitter and harsh beyond the City.  
"C'mere. You're gonna end up dying out here if you aren't careful. Cayde'll have my neck if he found out." The Exo raised his arm, lifting his cloak and motioning for the woman to sit close to him. With small movements, Lexi shifted until she was sat against the Exo, his cloak pulled around to cover her, to offer her some respite from the elements.  
  
Lexi noticed how the Exo pulled out a small metal bracelet, clearly handmade, with several names etched into it. Lexi recognised some of them.  
"That your Fireteam?" Lexi asked curiously.  
"Yeah." The Exo sighed softly.  
"Have... you lost any of them? Are they alive?" Lexi fiddled with her fingers, each time she blinked unwanted flashes of Willow's death haunted her.  
"I don't know. My Light left me and everyone else while I was on the commandship." Seraph mumbled.  
"I hope you haven't... I wouldn't wish that kinda hell on anyone." Lexi wiped at the tear falling down her cheek. The Exo put a hand on the young woman's arm, trying to comfort her.  
"I... I lost," Lexi choked on her words. "I was in the Plaza when the Light was taken. I... I was with my Fireteam leader... Willow..."  
"Don't... don't tell me." The Exo suddenly stood, cursing quick and quiet.  
"She... died in my arms... I was there. They were all executed. Everyone... gone..."  
"Everyone?" Seraph turned, his optics wide. Lexi nodded sadly.  
"Two of my Fireteam... Jess and Nyx... They went to the Plaza... it was being overrun."  
"If they were there when I was... I'm so, so sorry... but... they... didn't make it..." Lexi hesitated.  
"Willow... was it... peaceful at least?" Seraph crouched down in front of Lexi.  
"She went quickly if its any consolation. I didn't want to leave her... I stayed as long as I could. I... I ended up killing all the Cabal when she died. You knew her?"  
The Exo seemed to choke on his words, his brow furrowing like he couldn't fathom what had happened.  
"She's... not coming back..." Seraph whispered, he dropped to his knees.  
"Seraph?" Lexi tilted her head.  
"Yeah... I knew Lo... She and-"  
Lexi gasped as realisation dawned on her. She shook her head, tears threatening to fall again.  
"You're... You're... She never told us your name... She called you Sea... because of your eyes she said..."  
Seraph dropped forward, wrapping his arms around Lexi and burying his head into her shoulder. Lexi had never seen an Exo cry before, she didn't know if they were capable of crying. Gingerly she cupped the back of the Exo's head, holding him to her.  
"I'm sorry Seraph... I'm sorry I couldn't save her... save them... I'm sorry..."  
The Guardian leaned back, looking the woman in the eyes.  
"You have nothing to be sorry for... its them... they'll be sorry..." The Exo's voice was filled with rage, he looked in the direction of the City.  
  
"Sea... She said it was for my paintwork as well." Seraph broke the long silence, looking up at the stars.  
"She really loved you Seraph. You made her so happy," Lexi pulled something from her pocket, the item she'd taken from Willow's body, she fiddled with it for a moment before speaking. "Willow... being Willow... she was going to... she was planning on... she'd want you to want this." Lexi then held out the item, a silver ring, to the Exo. She swiped at her eyes, not wanting to cry again as the Exo let out a choked sob as he took the ring. The night stretched on, bittery cold, but the pain in their hearts hurt more than the cold. Lexi cuddled up to the Exo, they didn't speak to one another, simply gave reassuring touches and embraces. It was a week after the attack on the City that Lexi and Seraph reached the Twilight Gap. Seraph's Ghost noticed the Falcon that seemed to be following them, or as the Exo's Ghost wondered, they seemed to be following it. They stepped carefully along an icy ledge, Lexi's gaze was fixed on the Traveller far off in the distance.  
"What did they do..." Lexi whispered softly.  
"The connection to the Light is... gone." Seraph's Ghost spoke sadly. Lexi looked at the Ghost, sadness in her eyes.  
"I wish my Ghost was here." Lexi mumbled.  
"It ain't a Ghost though, is it? I mean, not like the rest?" Seraph looked over his shoulder.  
"Nah. Erm... its complicated and a long story, but it was a dead Ghost taken over by the spirit of something ancient. She's loyal, a dear friend to me, like your Ghost to you." Lexi explained.  
"Its because of... her... that you're like..." Seraph gestured to Lexi's body.  
"Yeah," Lexi tapped her metal temple. "If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead. I owe her a lot."  
  
Seraph wiped away the blood from Lexi's brow, pressing his fingers into the cut to try and stem the bleeding. Lexi meanwhile was trying to wipe the blood from her eye. Neither were expecting the attack from the Cabal or War Beasts. It was a tough fight, barely any ammo, running on fumes, both were exhausted yet they managed to survive. The snow soon gave way to green grass and woodland.  
"Careful Lexi." Seraph warned, walking across a fallen tree. He offered his hand as the young woman crossed cautiously. She took it and stepped to safety. The Exo spotted the Falcon on the next ledge. Taking a step back, he ran and jumped. And fell.  
"Seraph!" Lexi screamed, watching in horror as he fell. She jumped, using her abilities to cushion her fall. Lexi fussed over the Exo, praying the fall hadn't killed him. That's when they met Hawthorne, that's when they first saw a glimmer of hope for the future. It was a short flight to the Farm. Seraph disappeared to go meet and speak with Hawthorne. Lexi was left alone, she'd never felt so alone as she felt in that moment. Hoping to clear her mind, Lexi wandered around the barns of the Farm, greeting those she met along the way. Eventually she sat on the rim of the dried out fountain. She didn't know what to do with herself. Where did she start? How did she even start with finding Ziva and Cayde? Once again she felt hopeless. A small group of injured civilians passed by, speaking animatedly of their saviour. Lexi was glad that at least some innocents survived the attack on the City. The young woman's head snapped up when a voice reached her ears. She stood quickly, her gaze searching everywhere in search of the owner. Her breathing quickened, her heart hammering against her ribs, tears threatened to fall as she spotted the origin of the voice. She'd never moved so fast, running hard she jumped over the wall and knocked over the Awoken as she hugged them.  
  
"Lex?" they paused. "Lexi!" An excited cry left the Awoken male. He wrapped his arms around the woman and squeezed her tightly, laughing brightly.  
"Arux... you're alive!" Lexi wiped away her tears.   
"You're alive as well! I was afraid they killed you!" Arux sat up, brushing away the dirt from his armour.  
"Have you seen or heard from Umbra or Daex?" Lexi rushed out, hope in her voice.  
"They're gone Lex." Arux couldn't look her in the eyes.  
"Gone? Gone where?" Lexi asked.  
"Lexi... they're gone..." Arux shook his head, biting his lip as he fought his own tears.  
"No... Arux... they can't be... no." Lexi felt her heart sink.  
"I haven't heard or seen Willow though, so there's still-"  
"No... there's not." Lexi interrupted Arux's almost hopeful voice.  
"She's..."  
"Gone... I was there... She's gone Arux... they're all gone... its just us now." Lexi sobbed, pulling her friend to her. They held each other tightly, glad they were reunited but mourning for their loss. A figure ran past them, kicking up dirt making the both of them cough. Lexi looked up to see an Exo embrace two Awoken individuals. She smiled softly, recognising the Exo as Seraph. He may have lost a lot, but he hadn't lost it all. Lexi stood then helped the Awoken Warlock to his feet. She guided her friend to the Exo, waiting a few feet away while he spoke with those he embraced. He seemed to sense Lexi behind him and turned, giving a bright smile.  
"Lexi, I'd like you to meet Nalmia and Ival." Seraph introduced the Awoken male and female.  
"You're Seraph's Fireteam." Lexi whispered. They nodded solemnly.  
"Seraph, this is Arux," Lexi patted her friend on the shoulder. "He's... the only member of my Fireteam to survive."  
Seraph shook Arux's hand.  
"Willow was proud of all of you, you were her family. I'm sorry you've lost so much." The Exo spoke sadly.  
"Arux, this... this is Seraph... or... Sea as Willow calls... called him." Lexi explained.  
"She loved you. So much." Arux commented, realising who exactly the Exo was.  
"Lexi told me as much during our trip here." Seraph noted.  
  
The evening was quiet, few words passed between the fallen Guardians. They were all in mourning. For everything they'd lost. Lexi found Seraph by one of the gates of the Farm, his gaze fixed on the Shard in the distance.  
"So... you're really going there?" Lexi questioned.  
"I've got to," He replied simply. "What are you going to do now?"  
"Try and find Ziva... Cayde would want me to find her first. I just don't know where to start." Lexi answered.  
"Speak with Hawthorne, she might be able to help." The Exo glanced at the woman. Lexi nodded.  
"I suppose this is goodbye for now." Seraph commented after a moment of silence.  
"I suppose it is. Strange, I didn't think 'The Guardian' would be as nice as you are."  
The Exo chuckled, he leaned on the fence, his optics looking over Lexi.  
"Take care out there. And good luck. I hope you find your daughter, and Cayde."  
"You take care too." Lexi leaned up and hugged the Exo, pressing a small kiss to his temple. She decided it was time to call it a day, for the following day would begin her search for her loved ones.


	3. Chapter 3

Lexi woke up early the next morning, determined to find her daughter as soon as she could. She took Seraph's advice to speak with Hawthorne. Lexi jogged up the steps of the barn and onto the platform where Hawthorne stood, Louis perched beside her. Her gaze was fixed over the Farm, watching people come and go, trying to settle in to their hopeful safe haven.  
"That Guardian friend of yours is stubbon isn't he?" Hawthorne commented.  
"I find that all Exo's are. Must be something in their programming." Lexi replied.  
"You're wanting to find your daughter." Hawthorne stated, turning to look at the young woman.  
"Yeah..." Lexi drew out, curious as to how the woman knew.  
"Seraph told me before he left earlier, he asked me to help you in anyway I can."  
"That's if you're willing to, of course, I know you're busy keeping this place running and safe." Lexi said.  
"Your daughter needs you. Obviously I'm going to help." Hawthorne guided Lexi to a terminal, reams of data flowing through it, the system searching for something. Hawthorne began sifting through the information trying to find something in particular. It was silent between the two women for a while, the sun slowly rising above the horizon and bathing the Farm in its light. The only light people had since the attack.  
"Do you remember what ship she was on?" Hawthorne questioned.  
"Erm, it was the last ship to leave from the North Tower." Lexi recalled the events of the attack, re-running them through her mind, from when the first missiles hit, to when Ziva was evacuated. She shuddered at the memory of that day, even now she still hoped she'd wake to find herself in her bed, Cayde beside her cracking jokes and Ziva safely asleep in the next room. She knew now, some nightmares were real. Hawthorne looked through what data she had, trying to locate something, anything on the ship. Lexi paced as time went on, Hawthorne still silent as she searched the data. Lexi's nerves were getting the best of her; in the field, they were like steel, but when it came to those she loved, she could fall apart easily. The young woman stood on the edge of the platform, and looked towards the Shard.  
"I hope he's got the answers he needs." Lexi mumbled to herself. Louis gave a sharp cry beside her, flapping his wings for a moment before settling.  
  
"Hey I got something." Hawthorne called over her shoulder. Lexi rushed to her side, trying to make sense of the information on the terminal. Her mind was going too fast for her to even begin to comprehend what was on the screen.  
"What is it?" Lexi pressed, impatient to know where to begin her search. She couldn't even bare to think of what Ziva was going through, the fear and loneliness she must be feeling. It made Lexi feel nauseous.  
"The ship's emergency beacon was activated. And from the looks of it, not too long after it left the City. I can track it, see where it is."  
"Emergency beacon... why... why would they need to activate it?" Lexi worried, her mind going blank at the news. She felt light headed suddenly.  
"You know when something happens that constitutes an emergency." Hawthorne cocked her brow. She didn't mean to be so blunt, but with everything that had happened in just over a week, she didn't exactly have the best patience.  
"Stupid question, I know." Lexi muttered. Her hands were shaking as Hawthorne began to locate the beacon. Lexi feared the worst. Hawthorne hummed as she finally got her answer from the machine. An almost sad looked filled her eyes as she looked back at the young woman.  
"Where?" Lexi inquired.  
"We had the survivors arrive here shortly before you did."  
"Survivors?" Lexi blanched. Hawthorne looked at the young woman sympathetically.  
"I know there were many children among them... but to say for certain if your daughter..." Hawthorne hesitated a moment, "Go speak with those who arrived here. You should find your answers there."  
Lexi swallowed harshly, then nodded, she thanked Hawthorne for her help and went in search for the ship's survivors.  
  
There were far too few survivors for the size of the ship. Far too few. A small group of survivors had gathered at a makeshift table, eating the rations they were given. Their injuries ranged from none, to severe. Lexi's hand went to her prosthetic arm as her eyes fell on a young man with a missing limb.  
"Are... are you the survivors from... from the evacuation ship?" Lexi stumbled on her words. There was mostly fear in her mind, rather than hope for her daughter.  
"We are..." a young man answered, a brow raised in question.  
"Can you tell me what happened?" Lexi asked.  
"The ship was shot down, we crashed. Then we were attacked, I'm not sure how we managed to escape, just that we did. It was all just... a blur." The man who'd lost his arm explained. The others at the table hummed in agreement.  
"Among the survivors have any of you seen a little girl, she's about eight, Awoken, her name's Ziva?" Lexi inquired, sitting down at the table. The group looked between each other.  
"There were a few young Awoken girls on the ship, some of them are here." An older woman spoke.  
"She would've had a Ghost with her." Lexi added, her gaze flitting over each face of the group.  
"I don't recall ever seeing a Ghost..." another replied.  
"I've seen a few Awoken running around, but... none of them sound like who you're looking for-"  
"Oh..." Lexi cradled her head in her hands.  
"But a lot of them were taken to the infirmary. They were injured in the crash and attack, she might be there." A young woman offered. Lexi swallowed back the tears threatening to fall, she thanked the group and went off in search for the infirmary.  
  
For such a small infirmary, operating on poor provisions and quickly running out, they were overrun by the injured and sick. Those trained were rushing from one individual to another, trying to ensure that everyone was seen and that they were stable. All Lexi could hear was crying, either in sadness or in pain. Her mind went back to just after the attack on the City, memories of civilians crying and screaming flooded her.  
"Excuse me. Can I help you?" An Exo asked gently, pulling Lexi from her thoughts.  
"I'm looking for my daughter. She's Awoken, about eight years old, there should be a Ghost with her?" Lexi rushed out.  
"I'm afraid there are no Ghosts here," the Exo answered, Lexi's heart dropped once again, what little hope she had was disappearing fast. "However, there are a few girls who haven't spoken since they arrived, far too traumatised from their ordeal, perhaps one of them could be your daughter?"  
"Could you show me? I need to find her." Lexi pleaded. The Exo slowly guided Lexi to where the children had been separated off from the adults. Many of them were asleep, some were crying, a few of them had a blank look in their eyes, the horror that they'd experienced being too much for them to cope with. One by one, the Exo led the young woman to the now mute Awoken girls. There were seven children in total, but with each child, with each shake of her head, Lexi felt the tears begin to threaten again. None of the seven were her daughter.  
"She isn't here." Lexi informed the Exo, pain consuming her voice. Slowly she began to leave the infirmary, the Exo rubbing her back comfortingly. He'd seen many people leave in the same way, sometimes finding out their loved ones had passed in their care or even worse that they weren't there at all.  
  
"Excuse me, miss?" A male voice called. Lexi turned dejectedly to the man laid in one of the beds, a bandage wrapped around part of his head, covering his right eye.  
"You're... looking for a girl right? Awoken with a Ghost?" He questioned. Lexi nodded glumly, she felt empty and just wanted to sit somewhere silently while she figured what to do next.  
"I've seen her." The man tilted his head slightly, hoping the news would cheer up the young woman. Lexi's brow furrowed, she took small steps towards the man.  
"You've... seen her? Where?" Lexi's voice was broken, her gaze filled with sadness.  
"All I know is that, if it wasn't for her, I'm sure we'd all be dead." The man smiled softly, seeming to be lost in memory. Lexi dropped down onto the bed.  
"You don't know where she is?"  
"No... she was protecting us when the Fallen attacked the ship. It was like she had this strange power."  
Lexi's breath caught in her throat. Slowly she raised her hand and formed a ball of energy, it lit the immediate area in a soft purple glow.  
"Just like that!" The man spoke excitedly, pointing at the orb.  
"That's my little girl!" Lexi let out a sound that was almost a laugh.  
  
"What happened to her?" Lexi pleaded with the man.  
"I don't know. I just remember her keeping us safe, everyone ran as fast as we could... then there was this ear splitting screech, louder than anything I've ever heard, it just sounded monstrous." The man shuddered at the thought.  
Lexi nodded in understanding, a proud smile made its way onto her face as she imagined her daughter using her abilities, risking her life to save everyone else.  
"Look... this isn't going to be what you want to hear... but you should go to the ship... we... we had to leave... our dead." The man's voice fell quiet, as he hesitated with his words. Lexi's heart clenched. She didn't want to even entertain the idea that her daughter could be lost for good. She nodded slowly.  
"Thank you..." She whispered to the injured man. Lexi left the infirmary in search of a ship to take her to the crash site. The young woman armed herself heavily, she knew the Fallen would be scavenging the ship for anything and everything, the place would be crawling with enemies.  
"Lexi!" A voice shouted as she was about to board a ship. She turned and watched as Arux ran to her, he struggled to catch his breath.  
"I'm coming with you."  
"Arux, no! You don't have your Light. You die out there, that's it! I won't lose someone else I love!" Lexi argued.  
"Its not your decision whether I go or not. I'm not letting you go out there alone!" He argued back. Lexi shook her head but took a step towards him, slowly wrapping her arms around him.  
"Just don't die on me." Lexi whispered. The Awoken Warlock nodded gently, his Ghost looked at him worriedly, he waved off the apprehensive look and guided Lexi into the ship. It wasn't long before they were on their way to the crash site, a glimmer of hope that Ziva could still be there, that she could still be alive and safe.  
  
They landed the ship a couple miles from the crash site. If the place was crawling with Fallen the last thing they needed was them coming across the ship and pulling it apart. Lexi and Arux climbed to the brow of a hill, they crouched down low, their gaze scanning the site below. Part of the evacuation ship was buried in the ground, their landing was hard, Lexi was sure some evacuees definitely died in the crash. She saw how some areas of the ship were completely missing and still smoking from being shot down, other areas of the ship were missing from Fallen scavenging. Arux raised his visor and frowned as he looked over the area.  
"Something doesn't feel right, there's barely any Fallen here," Arux commented, he hesitated a moment. "Those scorch marks aren't anything I've ever seen, they're not from the crash, and there's no weapon the Fallen have that can do that."  
"Ziva can't do something like that. Even I can't do something like that." Lexi scrutinised the scorch marks that stretched dozens of metres, they were twice as long as the evacuation ship. The two friends looked warily at each other. They knew whatever did this was big and dangerous. It wasn't something they wanted to come across.  
"Get me there and I can scan them!" Arux's Ghost mentioned. Slowly Lexi and Arux sneaked down, their firearms raised, ready to fight. Lexi dispatched several Dregs easily and silently, the Fallen weren't aware of their presence yet. A stench travelled through the air, it was an acrid smell of burning, but what exactly was burning was unknown. Lexi coughed into her hand, bile rising in her throat as her body reacted to the smell.  
"What is that?" Lexi whispered to Arux, disgust written all across her face.  
"I don't like it either." He replied.  
  
A moment later all hell broke loose, Fallen screeching for backup and alerting their comrades that there were intruders that posed a threat. Lexi created a shield around herself and Arux, allowing them to openly shoot at the Fallen without the enemy causing them harm. The young woman fired several large energy blasts that decimated the ranks of the Fallen surrounding them. When the enemy numbers began to thin out, with several small groups being clever and finding cover behind parts of the ship, Arux gave a shout to drop the shield. Reluctantly the young woman did as the Awoken male told her. She feared for him, he would only be able to use his firearms, without the Light, he was no Warlock. Lexi easily wiped out the Fallen that tried close combat with her, turning them to smouldering corpses. She looked over her shoulder whenever she could to check on Arux. He was fighting hard, clearly he was unleashing the fury he had for the loss of his friends. Nothing could touch him. Lexi took out her knife and jammed it deep in a Dreg that tried to sneak up on her. It let out a howl before dropping to the ground. Lexi then let out a surprised scream as a Fallen swiped at her with sharp blades, cutting through her armour. She jumped, using her abilities to propel her that little bit higher. Releasing a blast of energy below her, she watched as numerous cloaked Fallen became visible as the blast killed them.  
"Arux! There's cloaked Fallen!" Lexi shouted to her friend.  
"Gotcha!" He acknowledged her. Eventually the fight came to an end. Both Lexi and Arux were exhausted, they leaned on one another as they caught their breath. The young woman gave a swift kick to one of the dead Fallen.  
"Bunch of bastards, every one of them." She grunted. Lexi's grasp was tight on her arm, where the cloaked Fallen had managed to cut her.  
  
They started to search the area for any signs of Ziva. Scouring what remained of the ship, they found nothing, not even a body. Same was said for outside the ship, no signs of the Awoken child or any dead civilians. Lexi and Arux scowled at each other.  
"There should be bodies, lots of bodies... theres nothing here." Lexi coughed at the stench of burning that suddenly caught the back of her throat.  
"Lexi." Arux spoke quietly. He crouched down and shifted some debris, parts of the ship, pieces of rock and dirt. His Ghost's optic was scanning the ground. A moment passed before Arux stood again, a Ghost in his grasp.  
"Phoebe?" Lexi questioned hopefully, wiping away the dirt to see the white, purple and gold patterned shell. She took the Ghost from Arux's hold and wiped away the dirt encrusted on her friend's optic. There was no light there, the optic was dull.  
"Phoebe?" Lexi tapped the optic, hoping that perhaps the ancient being was simply hiding deep in the circuits. There was no response, no sign that anything resided inside. Arux's Ghost scanned the Ghost shell.  
"There's nothing there but residual energy. I'm afraid its just a dead Ghost now." It reported. Lexi held the Ghost to her chest, another wave of loss washed over her, taking away with it her last hope of finding her daughter. Her gaze fell onto smoke rising from nearby, the wind seemed to carry the acrid stench from there. Curiously Lexi wandered in the direction of the rising smoke. Her eyes widened as remains of civilians were piled up high, their flesh burnt from their bones. There was no way to identify any of the poor souls that had been tossed onto the fire. Arux gasped at the sight as he joined Lexi's side.  
"They deserved better than this." He whispered softly. Lexi's gaze travelled over each of the bodies she could see, anger filling her slowly.  
"How could they do this!" Lexi growled out. Abruptly her gaze snapped to something which glittered in the sunlight. Lexi's brow furrowed as she cautiously stepped forward, getting closer to it. A horrified gasp left her lips, she dashed forward and fell to her knees, her fingers picking up a golden locket. She let out a sob as she opened it up and saw a picture of herself staring back, Cayde beside her with his arms wrapped around her and Ziva. The picture was full of happiness and bright smiles, however the young woman who looked down at it was filled with grief. Her cries were pained, her heart was shattered and her tears were hot as they rolled down her cheeks.  
  
Arux embraced Lexi, rocking her back and forth, trying to soothe her but being unable to. He knew nothing could console her now. The mother let out a scream, so loud, it almost echoed. Arux panicked as he saw more Fallen at the edge of the forest nearby, he noticed they seemed to be hesitating as if they were cowering in the shadows of the trees.  
"Lexi we need to go. There's more Fallen. We need to go now!" He said hurriedly. Lexi pulled away from her friend as she continued to sob. He looked at her panicked, her grief was too much. He knew she'd stay there and let herself be surrounded. She'd lost too much now. Arux crouched down and picked up the Ghost shell that Lexi had dropped, then a grunt left his lips as he lifted Lexi over his shoulders and ran back towards their ship, giving a yell to his Ghost to follow. The loss of his friend's daughter, a child that he loved like a little sister, finally hit him as the ship took off. Lexi was curled up on one of the seats behind him, her gaze had never left the locket in her grasp, her fingers brushed over the photo slowly, her tears rolling freely down her cheeks. Putting the ship on autopilot, Arux carefully joined Lexi, sitting beside her.  
"I'm sorry Lexi." His voice was filled with grief. Still her eyes never left the locket. The fly back to the Farm was silent, besides the sound of the ship and the occasional sob from Lexi. Arux watched as his friend disembarked the ship and wandered towards the wooded area just outside the Farm. Even her walk made her look like a broken woman.  
  
Lexi fastened the necklace around her neck, her fingers running over the sleek metal as it rested against her chest. She found the remains of a tree, and sat on the stump, her feet dangling freely. She'd been mourning over her daughter, but hadn't yet mourned for the loss of her friend and saviour. Lexi held the Ghost in her hands, his fingertips brushing over the engraved symbols and sigils that Phoebe herself had told Lexi about. It was the ancient creature's language, a tongue long since lost. Phoebe had asked her friend for the engravings, a memorial to when she was alive, and several markings were for her new friends and loved ones.  
"I'm sorry Phoebe. I should've gone with you and Ziva. Maybe then... maybe then you'd both be here now." Lexi stumbled out, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks. The snap of a twig made Lexi turn around, a ball of energy in her palm. The Exo raised his hands, an almost panicked sound leaving his lips.  
"Friendly!" He called out. Lexi let the orb dissipate and turned back around. Seraph sat beside Lexi, the stump of the tree was big enough to be a dining table, out here in the wilds, there was nothing hindering growth.  
"I... heard what happened," the Exo started, his hand gently rested on Lexi's forearm. "I'm sorry for your loss..." He whispered. Suddenly Lexi shifted and wrapped her arms around the Exo, holding him close to her. She let out a sob and squeezed him tightly. She felt his arms wrap around her, his fingers rubbing circles into her back. Lexi felt her fingers brush against something cold on the Exo's chest. She leaned back and saw the glitter of a ring, held on a chain dangling down. Seraph nodded sadly, his gaze falling to the golden locket around Lexi's neck. Suddenly as if remembering something, the Exo pulled a roll of bandage and a set of antiseptic wipes from a pocket on his clothed leg.  
"Arux said you were hurt." He shrugged softly. Lexi held out her injured arm, she'd completely forgotten about the deep cut. Carefully the Exo pushed away the torn pieces of reinforced fabric and began to clean Lexi's wound. She hissed, not realising how deep it actually went.  
"You're lucky, could've hit something major." Seraph noted as he awkwardly wrapped the bandage around the lesion.  
  
They sat silently for a long while, the Exo didn't want to leave the grieving mother. He'd become fond of her, thinking of her as a friend. He didn't want her to suffer alone, he needed to know someone was there for when she wanted to talk, for when she needed someone to hold her. Without Cayde, and with Arux keeping his distance in case she lashed out, knowing that she eventually would, Seraph was the only one who dared go near her. Arux had warned the Exo about how the young woman would lash out, how destructive she could be. He found out first hand a moment later when Lexi let out a scream, a scream full of agony, anger and grief. The Exo jolted back in surprise as Lexi let out a focused blast of energy, the area lit up as the purple blast tore through the trees in front of her. Trees for metres in front of the woman had part of their trunks obliterated, leaving nothing behind but a space between the stump and the higher part of the tree. What remained of the tree dropped down into the missing part and collapsed to the ground. Scorch marks covered the ground, the tree stumps and the exposed trunks where the blast didn't reach.  
"Holy fuck." The Exo exclaimed, his optics wide as they went between Lexi and the destroyed trees.  
"Sorry." Lexi's breathing was heavy, she'd expended a lot of energy.  
"Don't worry about it. Erm," the Exo pointed to the scorch marks. "Arux wanted to tell me his Ghost scanned the scorch marks by the evacuation ship. He says that the energy signature is the same one that you, Ziva and Phoebe have."  
Lexi's brow furrowed as confusion fell over her.  
"When I went to the Shard, there were scorch marks like yours but much bigger, I imagine like the ones you and Arux came across." Seraph mentioned, his own brow furrowing.  
"The Fallen that were there, I could've sworn they were hiding from something. Some of the scorch marks I came across, there were Fallen body parts around the edge just outside of the blast clearly the only lucky parts to escape it. Its as if-"  
"They were being hunted..." Lexi finished off Seraph's thought. Her gaze went down to the Ghost shell in her hands, she tilted her head slowly, her mind deep in thought.  
"Do you know where whatever caused the scorch marks was heading?" Lexi wondered, looking up at the Exo. Seraph took a moment to think before answering.  
"It was heading deep into the EDZ."  
"I'm going to find it." Lexi said determined.  
"Then I'm coming with you."  
"Not a chance. I could've lost Arux today, I'm not putting you in harms way. Don't forget, you get killed, you stay dead." Lexi argued. The Exo grinned, his optics bright.  
"Not anymore!" He said happily, his Ghost floated around Lexi before settling in front of her.  
"We're back! We got our Light back!" The Ghost cheered, it looped in the air and blinked at Lexi. For the first time that day, Lexi let out a laugh. She stood and caught Seraph in a hug, she could feel the Light inside him, that thrum of energy and power she'd grown accustomed to.  
"Seraph that's the best news I've heard since the attack! If you can get your Light back, surely every other Guardian can get theirs back too!" Lexi exclaimed.  
"Exactly! Now, let's go hunt down the hunter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys think so far? I love reading your comments.


	4. Chapter 4

Lexi had spent a week working tirelessly. All in preparation for stepping into the wilds of the EDZ, away from the safety of the Farm. Hawthorne had let her set up a map on the platform where she stood watch. Every time a scout in search of supplies for the Farm or whenever one of the few remaining Guardians returned from the EDZ and reported to Suraya, Lexi was quick to ask them about any sightings of the scorch marks that seemed to litter the EDZ. She hoped she could figure out whatever path the hunter of the Fallen was taking, or at least be able to predict where it'll attack next. So far, even after a week of constant sightings, there was no discernable pattern in the hunter's movements. Lexi was beginning to get frustrated. She was pouring over the map when Seraph wandered up the steps to the platform, reporting to Hawthorne before stepping over to her.  
"You do realise you look the spitting image of Cayde looking over that map constantly don't you?" He teased. Lexi smiled at the Exo, her fingers fiddling with the locket around her neck.  
"As long as nothing gets put on my map, and no Guardian decides to dance on it, everything is cool." She replied, her voice bright.  
"Man he really hated people standing on his map. They never let him live that one down." The Exo chuckled.  
"You have no idea how excited he was when it all went digital. I never heard the end of it for weeks!" Lexi smiled, but the gleam in her eyes dulled a little.  
"He'll show up somewhere, being all guns and glory and carrying as much loot as he can and then some." Seraph offered.  
"He better be." Lexi smiled fondly at the Exo. Abruptly Arux appeared at the top of the steps, carrying a set of rations in one hand and a steaming mug of tea in the other.  
"You've really got to take a break. You keep pushing yourself like this and you're going to burn yourself out." The Awoken Warlock chastised, but there was deep concern in his voice as he placed the food and drink on the table beside the map.  
"Thank you Arux. I didn't realise I was worrying you." Lexi replied sincerely. Her friend simply hugged her.  
"Just take it easy okay?" He pressed. She nodded reluctantly.  
"Keep an eye on her, she at least listens to your warnings." Arux patted Seraph on his shoulder, the Exo nodded in agreement.  
"What is this? The protect Lexi squad?" She teased the two men. They both shook their head with a laugh. Arux once again told her to get some rest before leaving.  
  
"Come on. Let's go sit somewhere quiet." Seraph persuaded the young woman. Reluctantly Lexi agreed and took her food and drink with her as the Exo guided her towards the roof of the barn. Lexi and Seraph had grown so much closer after Lexi found out about Ziva's death. The common understanding of losing someone you loved with all your heart. They'd spent time reminiscing about their lost loved ones, laughing along with the occasional cry between stories. They found a sense of comfort in one another, a hand to help them back up from their grieving. Lexi swung her legs back and forth as they dangled over the edge of the barn, Seraph sat by her side as she ate.  
"What do you think it is? That's hunting the Fallen?" The Exo questioned.  
"I'm not sure yet."  
"But you have your suspicions?"  
"I suppose so, but I don't want to get my hopes up to have them crushed."  
"What are your suspicions?" The Exo brought his foot up to the roof edge of the barn, leaning on his knee with his arm.  
"That its no coincidence that those scorch marks started at the crash site. Scorch marks that have never been seen before. But it could just be me holding out hope that... that I haven't lost everyone." Lexi aired her thoughts.  
"I'm heading into the EDZ again tomorrow. Come with me, we'll try and find this creature or whatever it is that's got the Fallen on the run." Seraph offered. Lexi thought for a moment, a long silence filled the air between them. Then she nodded.  
"I may not know where this hunter is going, all I know at the minute is that its been sticking around the same forest for the past day, its never stayed so long in one place before." Lexi explained. The Exo nodded in understanding.  
"We'll go heavily armed, make sure we're well prepared." Seraph spoke mainly to himself, his brow furrowing as he mentally noted what weapons to bring. Lexi hummed in agreement, her long hours awake and finally having her first meal of the day was quickly knocking her out. Gently she rested her head on the Exo's shoulder, looking over towards the sunset. The sky was a mix of deep purples and blues.  
"Lo would have loved seeing this, she was a romantic." Seraph told Lexi.  
"Cayde would love it too, though mainly because it would be happy hour and he'd sneak off from the Hall to go drinking on the cheap." Lexi yawned softly, a smile on her face as she remembered her lover. She missed him dearly and was desperate to see him again, but with nowhere to start, she'd have to wait for rumours of an overly cocky Exo getting into trouble.  
"Lets get you to your bed, you're falling asleep on me. Can't have you exhausted for tomorrow. I can be resurrected, you my friend, can't." The Exo teased. Lexi mumbled a sleepy 'fine', pushing herself away from the edge of the roof. Seraph helped her up, grabbing her belongings and guided her down safely from the top of the barn.  
"Goodnight Lexi." Seraph whispered to the young woman as she settled down into her bed. She pulled the blankets around her, shuffling until she was comfortable and surrounded by warmth.  
"G'night. Seraph." Lexi mumbled, her voice almost a whisper.  
  
Lexi turned in her bed, trying to reach out to hold something but her arm fell off the edge of the single bed. Her brow furrowed, a small whimper leaving her lips, as she stirred awake.  
"Cayde?" She whined as she sat up, she looked around panicked, not recognising her surroundings.  
"Cayde?" She called out again. Slowly it all came back to her. The attack, her escape, her losses. Lexi wiped away the tears that began to run unwanted down her face. Shaking her head she pushed the sheets back and sat on the edge of the bed. She looked over her shoulder, down at the empty bed. All Lexi wanted was to share a bed with Cayde again, even though he was an Exo and didn't supply the same degree of body heat as an organic body, he was always warm from his systems running in the background. Heaving a sigh Lexi stood and went about her new morning routine: washing with the limited fresh water, eating a breakfast of almost tasteless rations. Then looking to the Shard in the distance, silently mouthing what was virtually a prayer, in hope of hearing some news about Cayde.  
"Tough night?" Seraph joined her side by the fence.  
"Kinda. Bad dreams... mainly of the attack, of different scenarios, if I'd gone with Zee, if I'd stayed with Cayde, if I'd been caught and killed by the Cabal. Then woke up and forgot where I was, I thought Cayde was here with me. Obviously not." Lexi ran her fingers through her short hair.  
"You'll get your life back soon, I know it. Cayde will be making you laugh soon enough Lexi." The Exo offered.  
"I hope so... so when are we heading to the EDZ?" Lexi looked over Seraph, seeing several different knives strapped to his hip and thigh.  
"Whenever you're ready." The Exo replied. Lexi nodded and headed towards where she kept her armour and weapons. She secured her own weapons to her body, packing as much heat as she could. Lexi was ready for a fight if her suspicions turned out to be completely wrong.  
  
Lexi pulled her hood over her head as she boarded Seraph's ship. Her gaze went over her new armour, it was tight, but loose enough to move freely. The metal of it was tinted a forest green, with gold metal peaking through. The Exo was at the controls for the ship when the young woman arrived. Upon hearing footsteps the Exo spun on his heels and looked approvingly at the woman. He gave a low whistle.  
"Cayde would pounce on you if he were here. Lookin' good. What's your plan, having this hunter struck by how wicked you look!" The Exo complimented. Lexi blushed softly at the Exo's words.  
"Believe me, Cayde would," She replied with a grin. "This armour is nice, like real nice." She admired it. Arux had got it for her, as a gift, hoping that it might make her smile and at the very least that it'd keep her safe more than her old armour.  
"You ready to get going?" Seraph asked as he began to fire up the engines. Lexi nodded in confirmation and took at seat in the ship. It wasn't a long flight to arrive in the depths of the EDZ; they landed at Trostland. Seraph led Lexi towards the church in the centre, the woman noted the gleam of a scope up in the steeple. The Exo led her towards the church. They worked as a team, quickly dispatching the Fallen surrounding the church. They dashed into the church and up the collapsed walkway to reach a man stood by the window, sniper in hand, every few moments he'd take out the Fallen who got too close.  
"Ah its good to see you again Guardian, and you've brought a friend this time, always good to see a new face. I assume this is Lexi, its nice to meet you lass. Call me Devrim." The greying man offered his hand. Lexi took it and shook firmly. The man gave her a kind smile.  
"Its nice to meet you too."  
"Devrim, you heard anymore about those scorch marks?" Seraph asked the British sniper.  
"Well I haven't heard about scorch marks, but there's been this dreadful screeching sound coming from the Outskirts," Devrim answered, a shudder coming over him at the thought of the sound. "Even the Fallen here cower when they hear it. Whatever is out there scares the hell out of them. If its on our side, good, if not, you'd better take it down."  
"That's what we're planning on finding out." Lexi stated.  
"You'd better be on your way." Devrim nodded over his shoulder.  
"Keep yourself safe Devrim." Seraph grabbed the sniper's shoulder, giving the man a nod before letting him go.  
"I've kept myself alive so far." He smirked.  
  
Lexi grumbled as she threw an orb toward a group of Dregs, both on foot and on Pikes. The purple ball of energy burst on contact, spindles reached out to nearby enemies, grasping hold of them, linking them together before a charge of pure energy cut them all down, burning through their chests. Suddenly she was pushed to the ground, a body landing on top of her. She tried to turn around, her hand on her knife.  
"Just me Lex." Seraph's voice was by her ear. A rain of bullets came over the both of them, the Exo shielded the woman below him.  
"Seraph!" Lexi cried out as the Exo's weight dropped on her as he gave a pained grunt. Another Dreg riding a Pike passed by. Reaching out from under her friend, she aimed and released a blast of energy, it raced along the ground, tearing it up, spitting up rubble, then hit the Pike. The strength of it so strong that the vehicle flew upwards and sailed through the air before landing back on the ground, going up in flames. There was nothing left of the Pike or the Dreg. Surprise came over Lexi as she glanced down at her hand, her brow furrowed.  
"Seraph. You okay?" Lexi called out to the Exo collapsed on her.  
"Give me a moment." The Exo's Ghost commented. The young woman carefully pushed her friend from off of her and held his hand as the Ghost eventually resurrected him. Seraph sat up suddenly, looking around, trying to relocate himself.  
"Well... that hurt." He complained.  
"You didn't need to do that Seraph." Lexi told the Exo.  
"Its second nature." He shrugged. Slowly the Exo stood and pulled Lexi to her feet.  
"Ready to find out what the hell is hunting the Fallen?" Seraph cocked a brow as he asked.  
"Like you said, let's go hunt the hunter." Lexi grinned.  
  
It was a long walk, with plenty of Fallen lining the way, but they were easy enough to dispatch.  
"This way." Lexi pointed towards the beginnings of a forest. As the duo began to step between the trees, an ear piercing screech came from deep within the forest. Lexi fell to her knees, covering her ears and letting out a sharp cry. When the sound stopped the woman felt light headed, the world seemed to swim for a moment before it all settled.  
"Lexi you good?" The Exo crouched in front of her, lifting her chin with his finger. She swallowed harshly, trying to stop the bile rising in her throat. She gave a thumbs up, not trusting herself to speak. Seraph carefully helped her to her feet. Abruptly the ground shook beneath them, the duo's balance faltered for a moment but it was the Exo that kept them upright.  
"Well its big." Seraph looked over his shoulder into the forest.  
"Slightly regretting this now." Lexi shuddered.  
"You're shouting Lex." The Exo chuckled. The woman blushed and laughed in response. Very slowly they crept through the forest, flinching at every sound, turning their weapons towards it. If whatever was hunting the Fallen wasn't friendly to them, they couldn't be caught unawares. Soon enough they came across a large expanse of downed trees, scorched ground and very few remains of Fallen.  
"This is fresh." Lexi noted, the scorch mark was still warm underfoot. Seraph pointed to a line of trees that had been ripped apart. Lexi nodded before climbing over and under the remains of tree trunks and branches. The duo ventured deeper into the forest, still not finding anything of note. No sign of the being that was hunting the Fallen. Lexi was becoming impatient, frustration eating her up as they found nothing after an hour of searching.  
"Its gone. Whatever it is, its gone Seraph." Lexi hissed, angered with the lack of progress.  
"Keep calm Lexi. It can't be far." The Exo offered. With a sigh Lexi kept walking onwards. Eventually they found themselves coming out of the dark of the forest and towards a road. Lexi shook her head. They'd lost it.  
"Hey." Seraph whispered, Lexi looked over to the Exo to see him crouched down. She did the same and stepped over to him. Several metres away, a sphere was floating between the trees, it bathed the nearby trees in a purple glow.  
"That's one big Servitor." Seraph spoke just above a whisper. Lexi tilted her head as she gazed at the sphere. Slowly she stood from her cover behind a tree and began to walk towards it. She heard Seraph behind her, cursing and telling her to get down. As she got closer, Lexi began to pick up the pace.  
"Please tell me that's what I think it is!" She spoke to herself.  
  
Lexi let out a surprised cry as a bullet ricocheted off her metal temple. She was tackled to cover behind a tree by Seraph. The woman's eyes went to the sphere, it was emerging from the forest, towards the road, towards the Fallen. The Exo held a finger to his lips as the sound of an aircraft filled the air. Lexi looked from behind the tree to see a Fallen Walker drop to the road.  
"Fuck." She groaned. This was the last thing they needed. Her gaze went to the sphere.  
"That's no Servitor." Seraph noted as his optics were fixed to it, watching its every move. As the Fallen Dregs saw the sphere fully emerge from the trees, they backed away slowly. An eruption of purple light blinded Lexi and Seraph, forcing them to look away. Another ear splitting screech filled the air, once again, Lexi dropped to her knees in agony.  
"What the fuck is that!" Seraph shouted, horrified. The world was swimming again as Lexi turned to face the road. A smile made its way onto her face.  
"Phoebe." She replied simply, relief flooding her. Quickly Lexi stumbled to the road, she fell to her knees a few times but managed to get back on her feet. She looked up, a giddy grin on her face as she watched the towering creature. This was the second time she'd seen Phoebe like this. A terrifying creature, all twisted horns and sharp claws, yet the pale glow made her look pure, innocent in a way despite the carnage and death she'd brought to the Fallen.  
"Phoebe!" Lexi shouted towards her friend. The creature turned swiftly, for something of its size, Phoebe moved eeirely fast. Lexi's friend let out a low growl before raising an arm and bringing it down in a swipe. If it wasn't for Seraph tackling her from the road, causing them to tumble down into water, they'd be dead.  
"Will you stop tackling me! It hurts!" Lexi complained to the Exo, she stood and shuddered as the cold water went down the back of her neck.  
"Thanks for saving my life again Seraph, oh you're welcome Lexi." The Exo complained back, anger in his voice. Lexi looked at him apologetically, before her gaze went to her friend.  
"So... that's your Ghost." Seraph was slightly nervous, he'd been up against powerful creatures before, but Phoebe was ten times bigger and a hundred times more deadly than them all combined.  
"Perhaps we should wait until she's taken out the Fallen before you speak to her." The Exo offered. Lexi shook her head as she watched a missile from the Walker hit her friend.  
"I can't wait here and do nothing Seraph." She climbed up the banking and stumbled onto the road. Lexi released a blast of energy at the Walker, watching with satisfaction as one of its legs shattered. She turned as she sensed a group of Vandals coming up from behind, she took out her hand canon and fired several shots, each time a Vandal fell.  
  
Lexi had become too engrossed with fighting off the ranks of Fallen that she'd forgotten about the Walker behind her. A panicked shout from Seraph made her turn to see it had targeted her.  
"Lexi! Run!" The Exo cried out, he was trying to run towards her, to at least be able to shield her and take the blast if she couldn't flee. Seraph had wrapped his arms around her as Lexi threw up a shield a second before the missile hit. It never came. A shadow had fallen over the duo. Looking up, Lexi's gaze softened as Phoebe was covering them with her body. The creature tilted her head, recognition coming over her.  
"Hello Phoebe." Lexi reached out and placed her palm flat against the creatures face. A mix of clicks and purrs echoed in Phoebe's chest. Another barrage of missiles was fired from the Walker, all hitting Phoebe in her back. The creature let out a cry, she turned swiftly. Then Lexi and Seraph saw the carnage and devestation she was capable of. A blast of pure purple energy came from Phoebe's mouth, even from where the duo stood, they could feel the heat. The Walker exploded first, before becoming nothing more than dust. The terrified screeches of Fallen grew further away as they fled. Phoebe sat on the ground in front of Lexi and Seraph, a clawed finger reached out and caressed Lexi's cheek.  
"You're alive." The echoey voice of the creature spoke. The woman held her friends finger with a smile as she nodded. Lexi then retrieved the Ghost shell she'd been carrying with her and held it out. With a nod, Phoebe's monstrous form dissipated into a purple light, before disappearing entirely. The Ghost in Lexi's hand shuddered then sprung up from her hands.  
"I forgot how cramped it is in here." The electronic voice of the Ghost spoke. Lexi laughed then looked over her shoulder to Seraph. She noticed the look of sheer horror and wonder in his optics.  
"Who's that?" Phoebe wondered, the Ghost tilting to the side in curiosity.  
"Phoebe, this is Seraph, the Guardian the Vanguard gush about, the one who's saved Earth a dozen times." Lexi explained.  
"Sorry I tried to kill you..." Phoebe said sheepishly.  
"Erm... its fine..." The Exo was still in shock.  
"I didn't realise you were a Guardian. I just saw red, everything was Fallen to me. Until you shouted her name." Phoebe looked a bit dejected at almost killing her friend.  
"You've been on a rampage since the crash haven't you?" Lexi asked. The Ghost nodded.  
"They... they took her... they took her away from me." Phoebe sounded broken, her voice filled with pain.  
"I've been to the crash site. I've seen the pile of bodies they burned. They killed her." Lexi's fingers went to the locket around her neck.  
"No..." The Ghost replied.  
"No?" Lexi's brow furrowed.  
"They took her."  
"Wait... as in... literally took her away?" The woman questioned. The Ghost nodded.  
"She's alive? My little girl is alive?" Lexi's heart clenched. The Ghost nodded again.  
"I've been following them. I'm close, I can sense her." The Ghost turned to look down the road. Lexi looked over her shoulder at Seraph, he simply gave a nod. Lexi turned to her Ghost.  
"Show us the way."  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to look up! 
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment xxx


	5. Chapter 5

"Cayde will be ecstatic to find out Zee is really alive." Phoebe enthused, the Ghost spinning around happily.  
"I don't even know where Cayde is. I haven't seen him since the attack." Lexi replied sadly.  
"So... he doesn't know that Zee and you are alive?" Phoebe tilted in question. Lexi shook her head. The Ghost made a dejected sound and looked to the ground. Even Phoebe missed Cayde, she missed everything about her little family. It angered the Ghost to know it had all been torn apart. Her rage had subsided for the Fallen, now she waited until she was face to face with the Cabal who were to blame for all of it. Phoebe kept that to herself.  
"Phoebe, about your rampage, how did you manage to have a tangible form?" Lexi's brow furrowed as she wondered. The Ghost tilted this way and that, clearly in deep thought.  
"I'm not sure. I was in such a deep rage when they took Ziva..." Phoebe herself sounded confused as she thought on it. Lexi hummed softly in understanding, despite being an ancient being, Phoebe didn't have all the answers.  
"When we were looking for you, my powers kinda spiked..." Lexi glanced down at her hand.  
"You're stronger when we're close. Maybe... Maybe some of my power when I was on my rampage became excess and went to you instead?" Phoebe humoured the idea.  
"Perhaps."  
"By the way, you're both scary when pissed." Seraph jumped into the conversation. Lexi laughed as she looked over to the Exo. His rifle held in his arms as he kept on walking down the broken roads. They'd been travelling for hours, through the twists and turns of the EDZ. Though they still found nothing on where Ziva was, Phoebe could sense her, she was close, so very close. They were following something, hunting something. Whatever had Ziva was moving, it knew they were close, despite what happened to its kin, they were determined to keep the child hidden.  
  
"You don't think they're going to try and do what they did with me?" Lexi feared.  
"Lets hope not." The Ghost said almost cheerily. Seraph cocked a brow in question, wondering why the Ghost sounded happy, did it know something Lexi didn't? Phoebe looked at the Exo, noticing the confusion on his face.  
"Ziva's abilities are powerful, if they tried to use her against us, make her a weapon of their own, there would be nothing left of those who took her." Phoebe explained.  
"So why hasn't she used her abilites?" Lexi questioned.  
"I think they've kept her sedated somehow, to move her easily." The Ghost offered.  
"Sounds like they really want this power you have." Seraph added. Phoebe nodded in agreement.  
"The Fallen found me deep underground. Though they couldn't use me, they needed a conduit. None of their kind could handle my power, I never wanted to be a part of them, those disgusting creatures. I chose Lexi, I could see she could cope with the energy, I could see what she could become. A weapon, yes, but also a shield for those who cannot protect themselves." The Ghost explained. Lexi smiled fondly at her friend, she knew that Phoebe had chosen her, but she hadn't known the whole of what the ancient being believed. Lexi glanced around to see partially collapsed and decaying buildings, a fountain in the centre.  
"The Fallen are taking us for a run about! We've just looped on ourselves. Hours of walking to get back to where we started." Lexi grumbled, frustration getting the better of her. Knowing her daughter was so close, all Lexi wanted was to have her in her arms again. To see her smile again. To hear her laugh.  
  
Phoebe abruptly went onward, leaving Lexi and Seraph behind.  
"Your Ghost is something." The Exo commented.  
"She is isn't she." Lexi smiled, watching the Ghost as it disappeared into one of the crumbling houses. The young woman let out a shout as a Dreg jumped at her, pushing her to the ground, then straddled her and raised its knife, a series of clicks coming from the Fallen. Lexi raised her arms, blocking the Dreg from bringing the knife down. Blood spurted from the Fallen as several bullets buried themselves into its head. It went limp above her, with a hard push Lexi pushed it to the side. Seraph grasped Lexi's arm and pulled her to her feet. A number of Fallen had surrounded them.  
"Something tells me we're close. They're nervous." Seraph grinned as he shot at the nearest Fallen. Lexi offered her own grin to the Exo as she took one of her knives and threw it hard, another Dreg fell to the ground. Dead. The young woman dodged as a slew of bullets hailed down on her from above. She looked up to see a Vandal stood sentry on a partially collapsed floor of a house, its front exterior missing. Taking her rifle, Lexi fired back, the Vandal moved backwards to take cover. The woman looked over to see Seraph busy engaging with Dregs and Vandals on the remains of a collapsed building. Lexi ran towards the building the Vandal was taking cover in and used her abilities to jump up onto the floor above the creature. Lexi aimed her rifle down and open fired, the Vandal gave a screech before it became a corpse.  
  
The young woman spotted several Shanks emerge from the ruins opposite. Taking her sniper, she crouched low and held her breath as she aimed at the machines. One by one she picked them off, watching as they fell to the ground and were ripped apart from an internal explosion.  
"We've got company Lex!" Seraph's voice came over her comms. Lexi peered out of the building to see a Fallen Skiff pull in above the plaza. She cursed as a Walker dropped down, causing the ground to shudder on impact. Several more ranks of Fallen dropped down along with it. Lexi stayed in her position, allowing her to pick off the smaller enemies and back away from sight and enemy fire whenever she was at risk. When a targeting laser appeared on the wall beside her, Lexi scrambled, fell and hit the ground hard just before the missile hit. She gasped as the wind was knocked from her, the armour she was wearing digging into her ribs. Quickly she pushed herself up from the ground and found cover behind a stone pillar.  
"Its getting hairy out here Seraph. Could use a little back up!" Lexi called into her comms. Suddenly the Walker fell to the side, its legs going out from under it as an explosion hit its legs. The Exo appeared in the plaza, a missile launcher in his grasp. He fired another at the Walker, ensuring it stayed down for a while longer. Lexi grinned as she joined Seraph's side to take down the remaining Fallen. She let out strong energy blasts, wiping out dozens of Fallen as they tried to swarm closer. The Exo's arm snapped out, a dagger in his grasp, a Fallen Marauder's cloak dissipated as it choked on its own blood. Lexi jumped back, realising how close it was to slicing her own throat.  
"Thanks." She called over her shoulder as the Exo pushed himself towards a nearby Captain. The long high sound of the Walker regaining its stance caught Lexi's attention. She spun around and threw an energy ball at it, hoping it would cripple the machine again. It didn't. It targeted the woman again, the laser aimed at her chest. Lexi dashed and rolled out of the way before she'd become one of the corpses scattered on the ground. She crouched behind the fountain, letting herself catch her breath.  
"Seraph!" Lexi shouted. She aimed her sniper at the Walker and fired, once again hoping to cripple it. Lexi cursed. Abruptly a bright light filled the plaza as the Exo summoned his Arcstrider ability. Lexi gasped as she watched how Seraph moved fluidly, and striked with power, enemies turned to dust around him. The Exo approached the Walker and with several quick attacks, the machine let out a groan as it collapsed, several explosions covered it. Lexi jumped up and cheered as the plaza finally became empty.  
  
"That was amazing! You were amazing!" Lexi exclaimed as Seraph joined her side. The Exo chuckled softly at the woman's compliments. Phoebe appeared by a window on the top floor of one of the derelict buildings. The Ghost made a gesture that said to meet her. The duo looked at each other, shrugged then took the short winding climb to where the Ghost was seen.  
"Ph-"   
The Ghost made a quiet 'shush' sound and motioned towards the door in front of them. Lexi cocked her brow in confusion. Phoebe gave an exasperated sigh, then looked to Seraph's Ghost for help. The two Ghosts floated to the door then moved back a bit before moving forward again, almost giving the appearance of a battering ram. Lexi mouthed an 'oh' realising what the Ghost meant. She stood in front of the door, took a deep breath and after a silent count, she raised her leg and gave a forceful kick to the wood. Lexi's eyes locked with a Fallen Captain, a bundle in his arms. Quickly it smashed the window and jumped down, the Fallen enemy ran across the plaza, jumped and disappeared. Phoebe followed close behind the creature, moving quicker than Lexi had ever seen. The young woman and the Exo also jumped from the window and dashed in the direction of the Ghost. The recent rain had made the grassy banking difficult to climb down. Lexi soon ended up in the water, a shrill squeak coming from her as cold water went down the back of her armour. She jumped up and hopped from one foot to another.  
"If I end up in more water today, I swear I will lose my shit!" Lexi shivered as the water went over her spine. Seraph burst out laughing.  
"The joys of being an Exo!" He teased. Their attention was stolen by a blast, followed by gunfire and screeches. Lexi raised her scout rifle and barrelled into a tunnel under the plaza where gunfire echoed, Seraph close behind her. She fired at anything that moved, her senses guiding her arm as she drove her dagger into the throats of Dregs as she passed. The ground shook as she let out energy blast after energy blast, clearing the tunnel of enemies fast. Lexi struggled to stop when the tunnel opened up, a hole in the ground that dropped down deep, swallowing any light. Her feet were teetering on the edge, her arms waving to stop her from falling. Then Seraph ran straight into her, knocking them both off the edge. Lexi groaned as they finally hit the bottom of the hole. She laid sprawled out on the cold stone, pain flourishing like flowers all over her body.  
"I'm gonna have so many bruises after this." She grumbled.  
  
Another blast and the boom of a large weapon firing echoed in the tunnel. Lexi pushed herself onto her knees and slowly gathered herself onto her feet. The ground shuddered as something pounded on the rock. Silently, Lexi sneaked deeper into the tunnel, screeches and gunfire filling the air. The darkness eventually gave way to light.  
"Holy shit... they wanted Zee bad... this is their last stand." Lexi whispered. A collosal cavern opened up from the mouth of the tunnel. Stood there shooting at a Ghost was a Fallen Archon, a bulky Servitor floating around trying to destroy Phoebe as well.  
"You destroy the Servitor, I'll start on the Archon." Seraph crouched down, surveying the battleground. Lexi nodded at him. A second later they rushed into the battle. The young woman took cover behind a rock formation and emptied several clips into the Servitor. As it turned to her Lexi threw a grenade, followed by an energy ball, hoping it distracted it for a moment so she could dash to the next closest cover. Lexi peered out from behind fallen rocks. The Servitor was gone. She spun around swiftly, finding the Fallen at her back. Lexi didn't have time to move so instead emptied her clip into the enemy. The young woman let out an agonised scream as a powerful energy blast hit her arm. She looked down to see her prosthetic gone, smouldering circuits of her shoulder the only remaining part. Lexi became light headed, falling to the ground as she tried to comprehend what happened. Her gaze went to the Servitor, the enemy covered in cracks, with a final well placed blast, the Fallen exploded.  
"Lexi!" Phoebe shouted from across the cavern. The young woman looked up to see the Ghost floating over the Fallen Captain, a burning hole in its chest. The bundle it was holding was laid on the ground, the fabric had fallen away to reveal a small child. A small Awoken child. Lexi struggled to her feet and stumbled. She looked to see Seraph fighting the Archon, he glanced over to her.  
"Go! I got this!" The Exo yelled. Lexi staggered across the cavern, her hand clutching the smoking circuits of her shoulder. She dropped to her knees as she reached Phoebe and the child.  
"Zee. Zee." Lexi sobbed happily, her fingers running through the little girl's auburn hair. The child stirred slightly and mumbled something unintelligible.  
"Your arm!" Phoebe exclaimed.  
"I'm fine. I'm fine." Lexi reassured her friend. She turned to watch Seraph use his Arcstrider ability to end the life of the Fallen Archon. It let out a fearsome screech as it fell to the ground, the life leaving its eyes. Lexi's heart was beating hard and fast as she gazed across the empty cavern.  
"Its over." She breathed. The Exo was at her side in a second.  
"You're hurt."  
"M'good." Lexi whispered as she turned back to her daughter. Her skin shimmered in a way that Lexi adored, but she noticed the small cuts on her face. She wiped at the joyful tears running down her face.  
"Lets get out of here." Seraph smiled softly, joy glowing in his optics.  
  
Lexi cuddled her daughter on the return flight to the Farm. Ziva still hadn't woken up yet, but Phoebe assured her she would soon. Arux met them as they landed, he supported Lexi as the shock of losing her arm, again, was still overwhelming. Seraph gathered Ziva in his arms and carried her. The two men took the women to the infirmary. Arux eased Lexi onto a bed they'd been guided to. The Exo she'd spoken to in the infirmary over a week ago tried getting Seraph to bring Ziva to the children's section.  
"Please... I need her by my side. Please!" She pleaded. The Exo nodded and let Seraph bring the child to Lexi. The Guardian laid the girl on the bed carefully. Lexi shuffled to sit beside her daughter as a technician disconnected the remains of Lexi's prosthetic.  
"Its going to take a few days before I can get you a replacement." The woman told Lexi.  
"Okay." She replied simply. The young woman was left alone with her daughter and her Ghost. Softly she stroked Ziva's cheek, she smiled brightly at the little girl, alive and well beside her. An hour later, Lexi was laid on the bed, her arm keeping her daughter close; she was singing a song that always soothed Ziva when she was upset or sick. The Awoken girl stirred and curled up to her mother.  
"Ziva. Zee, sweetheart?" Lexi murmured. Bright eyes looked into Lexi's. Confusion washed over the girl's face before recognition dawned on her.  
"Mommy! Mommy!" Ziva sat up and dived onto her mother, squeezing her tightly and covering her in kisses. Lexi laughed brightly as she held her daughter to her.  
"Zee!" Lexi cried joyfully.  
"I love you Mommy!" Ziva exclaimed, burying herself into her mother's side, cuddling her tightly.  
"I love you too, Ziva. I love you so much." Lexi whispered, holding her little girl close. She told herself she wouldn't ever let go of her again. Now all she needed was Cayde and her family would be whole again. No matter what their future held, as long as they were together that's all that mattered.


	6. Chapter 6

"She looks so happy."  
"Considering everything that's happened recently the happier she is the better." Lexi turned to speak to her Awoken friend. Arux and Lexi were stood on a balcony of the barn, overlooking part of the Farm. The rain was coming down hard and fast, creating large muddy puddles across the ground. It rattled off the metal roof of the barn, Lexi found it rather soothing. Down below, Ziva was laughing brightly as she hopped from one puddle to another, jumping several times in the bigger ones. Phoebe was floating around the little girl, electronic laughs coming from the Ghost.  
"Seraph has been gone for a while." Arux noted.  
"He's gone to Titan, against Hawthorne's wishes. She's pretty pissed at him and I can see why. This place needs protecting, he's our biggest asset here. Then again, he still has hope to retake the City. Hearing that Zavala survived the attack, it gives me hope that Cayde is out there somewhere." Lexi's gaze fell to her daughter.  
"Its Cayde, he's alive somewhere. Probably looking for a way to get our home back. Being reckless as well I'd reckon." Arux commented, a smile on his face.  
"I miss him Arux. I really do. I want to fall asleep with him beside me again. I want him to tease and play with our little girl. I want him to hold me and tell me he loves me and I want to tell him I love him back." Lexi frowned slightly as she thought about her missing lover. She wondered why he hadn't tried to contact her, or even find her, surely if he was out there he would. It put doubt in her heart that he was alive. Until she was certain he was dead, she wasn't going to let hope slip through her fingers like it had with Ziva.  
"Lexi he loves you and he loves Ziva with every part of his being. I know you're entertaining the thought of why he hasn't contacted you, about what exactly could be keeping him from his family, just be patient with him. He'll turn up eventually. It wouldn't surprise me if he's got himself into trouble somewhere. I quite like the idea of you saving his ass, I'd like to see him try and play that off to his Hunters." Arux reassured the young woman.  
  
"Ziva sweetheart, come and get warm and have something to eat." Lexi called from the balcony. She watched as the Awoken child pouted before heading towards the barn, jumping in every puddle she saw along the way. Lexi shook her head, letting out a soft chuckle at her daughter. She wandered down the wooden steps and met her daughter at the barn door. The little girl's hair was plastered to her head and face, water dripping onto the floor. Yet despite how her hair hung limp and dull, her eyes were bright and full of happiness and life. A smile broke onto Ziva's face. Then a gurgle came from the girl's stomach.  
"Someone's hungry." Arux crouched down beside Ziva, a playfully smile on his face. Ziva nodded eagerly, rubbing her stomach as another gurgle sounded.  
"Lets go get some lunch." Lexi held her hand out and waited for her daughter to take it. The fact the Farm was actually a Farm helped when it came to food. Perhaps the plants didn't grow as well as they'd liked, but they grew, and the chickens that roamed the grounds offered plenty of eggs. Lexi, Ziva and Arux sat at a wooden table inside one of the barns of the Farm, chatting happily as they ate. Ziva pushed some of her food onto her mother's plate.  
"Mommy needs to eat more or daddy will be unhappy." Ziva smiled at Lexi. The young woman reached out and stroked her child's cheek.  
"What is she on about?" Arux questioned.  
"Mommy not been eating much..." Ziva replied.  
"I haven't had much of an appetite, just a lot of things on my mind." Lexi added. Arux put a hand on Lexi's shoulder. He gave his friend a reassuring smile, and gave her shoulder a squeeze before pulling away. Lexi ate the extra food her daughter pushed onto her plate. Her gaze went to the rain pouring down outside. Her heart ached to see Cayde stroll in, all cocky and smiles and jokes. Wished to see him sit down at the table and say he could cook better. To watch him wrap an arm around his daughter and ask her about why her clothes were muddy and then later join her outside chasing her around the puddles. She just wanted to see him again.  
  
While it may have been an Exo who entered the barn, it wasn't the one she wished to see, yet she was still happy to see him nevertheless.  
"You're a sight for sore eyes." Arux called to Seraph. The Exo chuckled as he joined the group at the table.  
"So... how did it go?" Lexi asked.  
"Zavala is alive. He's on Titan, he's going to rally Guardians to take back the City." Seraph revealed. Lexi and Arux grinned.  
"Uncle Zavvy is safe?" Ziva asked, listening in on the conversation. Lexi noticed how Seraph was trying to stop himself from laughing. As you could expect Zavvy wasn't a name thought up by Ziva. Oh no, Cayde thought it would embarrass the commander, and sound enough like something Ziva would make up for it not point to the Exo's doing. Despite all that, the commander had actually loved the nickname, he found it endearing, of course it wasn't the desired response that Cayde had wanted but the name had stuck anyway.  
"Yes he's safe." Seraph eventually answered. The little girl cheered and bounced in her seat, a bright grin on her face. The Exo's expression fell for a brief moment, Lexi made a note to talk to him later.  
"Still armless?" Seraph wondered, his optics going to Lexi's missing arm.  
"The technician said she'd fix me up a temporary prosthetic while parts come available for something like my old one." Lexi's fingers went to her shoulder, a small frown making its way onto her face.  
"Borrow Daddy's when he comes home." Ziva offered.  
"I think Daddy would like all his arms in one piece sweetheart." Lexi replied.  
"I'd like to see Cayde give you an arm." Arux said playfully.  
"Pretty sure I'd end up on the floor with how heavy it probably is." Lexi commented.  
"And I'm pretty sure Cayde would double over in laughter before he did anything." Seraph added.  
"Oh yeah. I can see that." Lexi chuckled. A moment passed before the three Guardians burst out laughing.  
"Lexi, can I talk to you after you've eaten?" Seraph asked abruptly. The young woman nodded in agreement.  
  
Lexi looked over her shoulder to see Arux playing with Ziva. Chasing her around the Farm. The little girl was very like her father though, twice as cheeky, the Awoken child used her abilities to create small obstacles at Arux's feet. The Awoken male, tripped and fell to the ground, mud splattering everywhere, covering him and Ziva.  
"Seraph, what's wrong? There's something bugging you." Lexi started.  
"Its nothing Lex."  
"Bullshit."  
"Lexi just drop it." The Exo hissed out.  
"Hey, I don't know what's crawled into your circuits, but don't you speak to me like that! I'm your friend!" Lexi bit back. The Exo looked away, his brow furrowed deeply.  
"You have no idea how lucky you are." Seraph spoke quietly.  
"Seraph?"  
"We might have bonded over what we lost, but you haven't lost a thing."  
"Hey! I lost Willow too! I lost Umbra and Daex, so don't tell me I haven't lost anything because I have! Just as much as you!"  
"You haven't lost your heart! You found Phoebe! Ziva is alive! So is Cayde! You haven't lost your heart! While I've lost every piece of mine! I lost it in that Plaza!" The Exo shouted.  
"You're jealous..."  
"No I'm angry. Why do you get to have your family and I don't? I've done more for this world than you have! I've saved it more than once! And the thanks I get? Lo gets taken from me! And I'm all alone!"  
Lexi regarded the Exo with pity. She didn't realise how much it hurt him.  
"Seraph... I... I'm sorry." She whispered. The Exo shook his head before walking away. Lexi's Ghost appeared by her side.  
"That seemed... tense." Phoebe noted.  
"I knew Willow's death hit him hard... but I never thought that me regaining what I'd lost would hurt him like this."  
"He said... Cayde was alive." The Ghost floated to look Lexi in the eyes. The woman thought on it a moment before chasing after the Exo.  
  
"Hey! What do you mean Cayde is alive? You know where he is?" Lexi grabbed the Exo and spun him around.  
"At least he was when he sent out the signal."  
"What signal? Where is he Seraph!"  
"Somewhere out there." He thrust his chin upwards.  
"Why aren't you going to find him?" Lexi interrogated.  
"I'll get around to it! Hawthorne and Devrim need help in the EDZ. Cayde can wait."  
"'Cayde can wait'," Lexi spat. "You're childish! You're not going after him because once he's back here I'll have everything returned while you don't? You may be angry Seraph but you're just as jealous!" Lexi yelled at the Exo.  
"He knows where Daddy is?" A little voice sounded. Lexi turned to see Ziva a few feet away, a sad look on her face.  
"Yes. But he's not going to go look for him yet." Lexi glared at the Exo.  
"Why should you have everything back as it was? While every one of us has lost something? Just because you're Cayde's little bitch, doesn't mean I'm going to jump to go find him. Perhaps I should go, bring him back, soon enough he'll lose interest in you. Then you can lose something too." There was only malice in the Exo's words as he stepped closer to Lexi. Suddenly the Exo was thrown back as an energy blast hit him. Seraph hit the ground hard. Lexi gasped as her head snapped to Ziva.  
"Don't call Mommy that!" The Awoken child started. "Daddy loves Mommy! He's not going to go away!" Tears started to fall down Ziva's face as she yelled at the Exo. Seraph looked shocked at Ziva.  
"Willow would be disgusted by you. What you are now, she wouldn't love. You should be ashamed. How you can call yourself a Hunter... I can't even stand to be on the same planet as you." Lexi looked at the Exo with pity. Seraph's face fell, regret pooling in his optics as he glanced at Lexi. Turning Lexi took Ziva's hand.  
"C'mon kiddo. We're gonna take a trip to see Uncle Zavvy."  
Ziva bounced on her feet as she walked at hearing she'd be seeing Zavala.  
  
Lexi took a trip to the technician before boarding a ship. The woman flinched as the nerves were attached to the temporary prosthetic, it was a skeleton structure, built purely for menial everyday tasks. It was not meant for fighting.  
"Its not at all as robust as your old arm. Like I said its temporary, but it should do for now. Just, don't get into a fight, the prosthetic won't last." The woman told Lexi.  
"I won't. Thank you." Lexi rolled her shoulder, testing the movement. It was clanky and difficult to manoeuvre but it would do. Soon Lexi had a ship on autopilot to Titan.  
"Mommy..." Ziva spoke slowly.  
"Yes?"  
"Daddy wouldn't go away from us would he?" Ziva's eyes were filled with worry.  
"Oh no sweetie. He wouldn't leave us! He'd never do anything like that! Seraph was just angry and speaking out of his arse." Lexi grumbled the last bit.  
"You'll see Daddy soon enough. I promise. Mommy will go look for him." Lexi added a moment later. The little girl gave a sad smile but worry still filled her eyes. Lexi felt anger bubble under her skin at how Seraph had planted that seed of doubt in her child's mind.  
"Sweetie, we're almost at Titan."  
Ziva's expression changed to that of excitement.  
"Uncle Zavvy!" Ziva exclaimed. Suddenly the moon came into view as they left hyperspace.  
"We're here." Lexi announced. Ziva rushed to her mother's side and looked out of the cockpit, she bounced on her feet.  
"Guardian ship eight-three-nine on approach." Lexi's Ghost contacted the surface.  
"I'll see you on the launchpad Guardian." Zavala's voice came over the comms.  
"Uncle Zavvy!" Ziva shouted joyfully before looking to Lexi. The young woman gave her daughter a bright smile. Ziva waited by the doors to the ship as they landed, impatient to see the Awoken Titan. As soon as Lexi pressed the button to open the door, Ziva was out like a shot.  
"Uncle Zavvy!" Ziva cried out. An 'umph' was heard as Lexi stepped out of the ship. In front of her stood the commander, crouched down and with Ziva wrapped around him tightly. His fingers ran through her hair as he hugged her back. The Awoken stood, lifting Ziva into the air with him and carrying her easily as he walked over to Lexi.  
  
"This is not a place for children it isn't safe... nevertheless I'm glad to see you all alive." Zavala greeted.  
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you Zavala." Lexi smiled at her friend. The Vanguard's gaze fell to Lexi's prosthetic.  
"Amanda isn't going to like that when she sees it."  
"Amanda... Amanda is here? Alive?"  
"Yes. She is not going to like your arm. What happened?" Zavala asked.  
"Its a long story. Is Amanda alright? Is she well?" Lexi rushed out.  
"She is. After we speak, I'll take you to her."  
"Auntie Amanda is here?" Ziva asked Zavala excitedly. The commander nodded, a smile on his face. Zavala guided Lexi into a building and carefully put Ziva on the ground.  
"Ziva. Do you think you can fix something for me while I speak with your mother?" The commander asked. The little girl hummed in agreement. Zavala led her to a small machine in the corner of the room. Almost at once the Awoken girl started to tinker with it.  
"Have you, heard about Cayde?" Zavala questioned.  
"Seraph told me." Lexi replied shortly.  
"Is everything alright on Earth? What brings you here? With Ziva?"  
"Earth is fine... well as fine as it can be considering. I had personal issues back on Earth, I needed to get away. Plus finding out you made it out of the City alive, I just really wanted to see you..." Lexi answered.  
"And these personal issues. Do they have anything to do with Cayde?"  
"In a way. Seraph is angry because once Cayde is back, I'll have everyone I love with all my heart back. Seraph lost Willow... she's gone for good... he's angry with me."  
"And why would he be angry with you?"  
"Because I thought I lost both Ziva and Phoebe the way he lost Willow. We bonded over that loss. And now I have them back and... he can never get Willow back." Lexi explained.  
"Ziva and Phoebe were lost to you?" Zavala's voice held concern.  
"Ziva was taken by the Fallen when their evacuation ship was shot down, Phoebe went on a rampage looking for her. I thought Phoebe and Ziva... were dead."  
"I see... and Willow... I know she was an exceptional Guardian. You say she... didn't make it." Zavala spoke slowly.  
Lexi shook her head.  
"Arux is the only one to survive from my Fireteam."  
"Umbra and Daex are both lost to us too?"  
Lexi nodded.  
"Seraph is still grieving. His anger is part of that, allow him time to let his anger go." Zavala advised.  
"I thought coming here would let me calm down so I didn't knock his head off, and would let him calm down as well."  
  
Lexi and Zavala spoke happily together as the commander led the young woman and her child to the makeshift hangar. Abruptly Ziva ran on ahead.  
"Now what do we have here? I see a lil' troublemaker!" Amanda's voice echoed. Lexi's face lit up as she heard her friend's voice. Laughter suddenly echoed in the room. Lexi looked to Zavala to see him smiling.  
"Hey, lookie here, I haven't seen you smile like that for weeks!" Amanda called as she saw Zavala. The commander chuckled. Lexi and Amanda looked at each other before the women rushed over and embraced each other. Lexi's brow furrowed as she held her friend to her.  
"I'm so glad you made it!" They both said in unison. A snicker leaving them as they pulled back.  
"Now what have you done to that perfectly good arm I gave you?" Amanda held Lexi's prosthetic.  
"It got blasted off by a Servitor..." Lexi admitted with a sheepish smile. Amanda shook her head as she moved the prosthetic, judging its make.  
"Its not bad a job... could use some tweakin'." Amanda thought aloud. She disappeared before returning with a set of tools. Lexi looked over her shoulder at Zavala as Amanda began tinkering with her arm.  
"You heard Caydie's signal?" Amanda asked as she fiddled with some wires.  
"No... can I hear it?" Lexi requested. The Shipwright leaned over to a console and hit a button.  
"In over my head... Vex trap... Failsafe."  
Lexi's heart clenched as the static-y sound of Cayde's voice filled the air.  
"Daddy!" Ziva cried, running over to the console and pressing the same button, the Exo's voice filling the room again. Lexi looked at her daughter softly, the little girl looked so happy to hear her father.  
"I'm going to find him." Lexi told Zavala and Amanda.  
"Not with an arm like that you ain't." Amanda retorted.  
"I need to find him Amanda."  
"I know. But you go out in the field like that, you'll be leavin' Ziva on her own... for good."  
"I just... I just need to find him..."  
"C'mon. Let's go see what I've got, see if I can't fix you somethin' up so you can go after that Exo of ours."  
  
While Amanda improvised with improvements to Lexi's prosthetic, Zavala took care of Ziva. He was always great with children, he'd become an amazing Uncle to the Awoken girl.  
"She's eight next week..." Lexi noted.  
"Some hell of a birthday she's gonna have. An' we had a plan all set out for her! It was gonna be one hell of a day!" Amanda revealed. Lexi's shoulders dropped.  
"Lex... I mean whatever birthday she has she's gonna love. An' when we take the City back, we can throw her a huge party!" Amanda tried to cheer her friend up.  
"If I can get Cayde back in time... I think that's all she'll need... he can make anything a party."  
"True." Amanda agreed. Soon enough it was time for Lexi to return to Earth. She turned to Zavala as she stood by the ship.  
"Once I've found Cayde. I'm going to go help find Ikora. I've lost too many members of my family. I won't lose any more." Lexi stated.  
"I may have had my reservations about you in the beginning. However you've become a remarkable woman, and a remarkable Guardian. We're lucky to have you. Be safe out there, we don't want to lose anyone else either." Zavala grasped Lexi's shoulder fondly as he spoke. Lexi nodded as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Zavala, hugging him tightly. As she stepped back, Ziva dashed forward to hug the commander.  
"Keep yourself safe too little one." He crouched to speak with her.  
"You take care of that arm." Amanda warned Lexi.  
"I will. And you take care of yourself. Zee needs her Aunt."  
"Who else is gonna show her how to take apart a Sparrow and put it back together again?"  
"I mean, Cayde could show her how to take it apart, probably by crashing it. Putting it back together though... not so much." Lexi replied playfully.  
  
Lexi gave Zavala and Amanda a final hug before boarding the ship. Ziva frowned as they took off.  
"Sweetheart. We'll see them real soon. But we need to find Daddy and Auntie Ikora first."  
"Daddy." Ziva smiled brightly, remembering the signal. It wasn't a long trip back to Earth, and once they'd disembarked an Exo was stood nearby waiting for them.  
"Seraph." Lexi greeted.  
"Look... I was a real prick...ily... Exo earlier," Seraph quickly changed his words when he realised Ziva was there. "I didn't mean what I said... I was just..."  
"You're angry I know... I suppose I was  
insensitive... you're still grieving and I'm flaunting around with everything I should've lost. You're right, I haven't done anything to deserve having what I have, while you've risked your life to save everyone, and... you've lost everything... its a real big injustice and I wish I could changed how things turned out..." Lexi spoke gently, admitting her faults in the situation.  
"Lex... I'm going after Cayde... I want you to come with me... I just hope you can put up with me after what I've said to you, I want you to know that I'm sorry."  
"Well... I'm not sure... I mean can I really put up with you while we look for my idiotic other half?" Lexi teased.  
"I'm sure we'll find a way." The Exo chuckled. Lexi kneeled on the ground and held Ziva by her shoulders.  
"Sweetheart. Do you think you can stay here with Arux for a while, while I go find Daddy?"  
The little girl's face lit up brightly as she nodded profusely.  
"Go get Daddy!" Ziva exclaimed. Lexi stood, pure determination in her eyes.  
"Give me an hour. And I'll be ready to go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment xx


	7. Chapter 7

Lexi's gaze wandered around her surroundings after they'd landed. While they tracked down Cayde's signal, she couldn't help but admire her surroundings. All pale rock and colourful vegetation.  
"Something tells me Cayde's just dragged us into the middle of his mess." Seraph groaned, agreeing with his Ghost's earlier opinion on the situation.  
"It wouldn't surprise me. He can be reckless sometimes, I mean he's brilliant in the field, but he also tends to run headfirst into, well... anything. Like most Hunters really." Lexi commented.  
"How's the arm?" The Exo nodded to the prosthetic.  
"After Amanda tweaked it a little, it has more movement and its more fluid to move around than before." Lexi answered.  
"Will it hold up if we find ourselves in trouble?"  
"She reinforced it and put a bit of armour plating on. I mean I can't take the kinda hits I could, but a few hits won't exactly cripple me." She revealed. As they neared the signal origin point, Lexi's gaze was more focused on trying to spot Cayde than it was admiring the scenery.  
"Is that a ship?" Lexi asked as she squinted at the hunk of metal in the distance.  
"Yup, and its where the signal is coming from." Seraph answered.  
"Cayde." Lexi breathed. She rushed off in a sprint towards the crashed ship, her senses leaving her despite Seraph shouting her. The Exo turned to his Ghost.  
"Talk about running headfirst into things."  
Seraph then ran after the young woman.  
  
"Cayde? Cayde!" Lexi called as she approached the ship. It had crashed pretty hard into the ground, tearing up the dirt as it skidded to a final stop.  
"Lexi keep your voice down! You don't know what else could be here!" Seraph chastised.  
"Oh... yeah." Lexi bit her lip as she realised how being so close to finding Cayde was blinding her from her senses. Lexi followed the Exo as he tried finding the source of the signal, eventually coming across a terminal emitting a high pitched beeping sound. The duo looked at each other warily before Seraph's Ghost scanned the device. Abruptly it lit up, a cheery voice coming from the device.  
"Hello! Are you here to rescue the Cayde-6?" It asked.  
"Woah, you're not Cayde!" Seraph's Ghost exclaimed. Lexi looked to Phoebe and cocked a brow in curiosity and confusion.  
"The Cayde-6 is currently caught in a teleportation loop. He's over there. Oop, now he's over there, oop!" The voice continued in the same cheery tone. Lexi sighed, her fingers rubbing her forehead in exasperation as she heard the news, silently cursing the stupidity of her lover.  
"He's moving? Well that's... complicated." Seraph's Ghost almost sighed itself, perhaps even it was silently cursing the Vanguard for making their job several times harder.  
"I can help you!" The voice called, a small distortion followed, then the voice lost its cheerful tone. "But I'm going to be super unpleasant about it."  
The small group looked to one another at the sudden change in the voice's demeanour. Lexi and Seraph both had a brow raised in sheer confusion.  
"I'm sorry...what?" The Exo's Ghost was the first to air its bewilderment.  
"I have uploaded his new coordinates to you," the cheerful voice returned only to disappear a moment later as it added, "Against my better judgment."  
Lexi and Seraph hummed in acknowledgment, still completely baffled, as the Exo's Ghost gave a verbal reply.  
"Well it sounds like my other half has gotten himself in trouble. Go figures!" Lexi grumbled.  
"Does that make you the better half?" Seraph questioned.  
"Of course!" Lexi replied with a cheeky smile.  
"You must be Lexi. The Cayde-6 will be happy to know you're here!" The bright toned voice called.  
"Wait... he's told you about me?" Lexi questioned, a smile shy smile making its way onto her face.  
"The Cayde unit talks about you a lot!" The cheery voice then fell away. "Its unbearable."  
  
Seraph's Ghost managed to get to the bottom of what exactly the voice was and why it was behaving so odd, while the group walked towards their new coordinates.  
"So... what're you gonna do when you see him?" Seraph asked sincerely, he'd noticed the shy smile on his companion's face when the malfunctioning AI had revealed Cayde spoke about her.  
"I have no idea. At the moment its a toss up between kissing him and punching him." She admitted.  
"A kiss would be sweet to see," Failsafe told, then once again her demeanour changed. "But a punch would be more satisfying."  
Lexi couldn't help but chuckle at the AI's more or less constant sass. Seraph's Ghost questioned Failsafe on how the Centaur Nessus was like it was, given how it shouldn't have even looked anything close to what it did. The AI gave the answer Lexi was dreading. Vex. She groaned as they began walking down a pathway that descended a circular hole in the ground.  
"Have I ever told you how much I hate the Vex?" Lexi complained to Seraph.  
"No but I'm sure you're gonna tell me." He teased.  
"Well I hate them. More than anything... well... apart from Thrall, those fuckers freak me out." Lexi shuddered at the thought of the Hive. Seraph chuckled at the young woman.  
"The coordinates lead to an area right ahead." Phoebe stated excitedly. Lexi and Seraph looked between each other.  
"Vex trap?"  
"Vex trap." The Exo affirmed.  
  
Seraph pulled Lexi up, helping her onto the tall rocky structure. The young woman peered at the expanse below, her gaze scanning it for any sign of her lover. Lexi's face lit, a beaming smile struck her face as she hurried forward, jumping over rocks to get herself into the centre of the Vex modified area.  
"Cayde!" She cried out joyfully as she quickly approached the familiar Exo floating a couple metres from the ground, caught in a blue field that somewhat resembled a cage.  
"Lexi? Lexi! Hey, don't ask me how this happened, I don't have time to explain what I don't have time to understand!" The Exo rushed out a mere second before he vanished. Failsafe announced the Vex's arrival as Lexi's head snapped around in a panic at seeing the creature's light's signalling their immediate appearance.  
"Shoot me now!" Lexi cursed as she dashed for cover.  
"They're about to." Failsafe called unhelpfully.  
"Thanks..." Lexi grumbled as she found cover and started to pick off the Vex from her high vantage point. She spotted Seraph several times during the battle, putting himself in the thick of the enemy ranks.  
"Lexi... wanna try something?" Phoebe wondered as the Ghost saw the Exo getting surrounded.  
"Like what?" Lexi questioned as she took out the closest Vex with her rifle. The Ghost spoke quickly to the young woman, describing exactly what to do. Lexi nodded in understanding. Hiding herself behind her cover, Lexi closed her eyes and focused on what Phoebe had described. The Ghost looked at her approvingly as the woman opened her eyes. Both her organic and inorganic eye glowed a soft purple, around her hands was sparking purple energy. Lexi peered down to see Seraph being overrun by the enemy, a Minotaur causing real damage to the Exo. Abruptly the woman jumped from her position and hit the floor hard, her hands pressing into the rock. A trail of purple rushed across the ground towards Seraph's position. Lexi watched as the energy burst from the ground, impaling the enemies surrounding the Exo. As Lexi stood the energy withdrew from the Vex, causing them to drop to the ground. Seraph spun around, his jaw dropped as shock overtook him.  
"What was that?" The Exo exclaimed. Lexi lowered herself to the ground, reeling from exhaustion.  
"Something I've been saving for a rainy day." Phoebe replied.  
"That took a lot out of me." Lexi breathed, her head falling back against a column.  
  
After a brief moment of rest, Seraph helped Lexi to her feet.  
"Today isn't going how I thought it would go." Lexi complained.  
"With Cayde involved, how did you think today would go?" Seraph cocked a brow. Heading towards new coordinates, guided by Failsafe, the AI answered Seraph's Ghost's questions on how Cayde got into this mess and what exactly happened to the Exodus Black's crew. The group approached a Vex gate, Seraph and Lexi looked at each other warily as they stood in front of it, the Exo's Ghost questioning whether they'd end up like Cayde. That's all they needed today. Once they'd passed through the gate and came out the other side in one piece, completely unscathed, they were faced with a gravity well. A great cylinder tube that glowed a light blue that sent pulses downwards.  
"Speaking of things I hate. I hate heights and jumping into oblivion. In this situation take your pick of which I'm hating more." Lexi peaked over the edge of the ground, a grimace on her face when she couldn't see the bottom.  
"Its perfectly safe. Probably." Seraph shrugged. Lexi groaned before taking several steps back then rushing forward and launching herself towards the gravity well. She was relieved as it slowly sent her towards the ground. The well dissipated when the duo both reached the ground.  
"Hey over here! Get me out of here!" Cayde's voice shouted. Lexi's head snapped to the sound and she rushed forward to stand as close to the Exo as she could.  
"Cayde!" Lexi exclaimed.  
"Hey Lex! I've missed you and all but you might wanna turn around!" The Exo was pointing behind Lexi. "Like turn around right now!" The Hunter added. Lexi yelped as a Hydra materialised behind her. She dashed out of its line of fire and behind a column.  
"Cayde what have you got us into!" Lexi yelled at the Exo.  
"Don't blame me!" He tried to defend. "Just get me out of this thing!" He added. Lexi grumbled once again as she withdrew her firearm and fired at the smaller Vex enemies. It was only after a cry from Cayde that Lexi turned to find the Hydra behind her. She managed to get away by a hair's breadth.  
"I thought I trained you better!" Cayde called.  
"Shut up Cayde!" Lexi retorted.  
  
Lexi lost herself in the lengthy battle, the Hydra was difficult to take down, every time an opening was available Lexi found herself being rained on by Hobgoblin gunfire. Her frustration was slowly building, she cursed more and more the longer the fight went on. Lexi buried a dagger into one of the damned Vex Hobgoblins, removed it and buried it in again and again until it fell to the ground. She dropped to her knees, her exhaustion beginning to get the better of her.  
"Lexi!" Seraph shouted from across the battlefield. The woman looked over to him.  
"Do that thing! The Hydra is on its last legs!" Her companion called. Lexi nodded in agreement, she glanced to Cayde to see confusion cross his face. Lexi pushed herself to her feet and took a step back. Keeping an eye on the Hydra, waiting for it to materialise elsewhere, Lexi crouched down, ready to jump. Then Lexi pushed herself off the ledge and into the air. She came down, hitting the ground hard. Purple energy surged toward the Vex, so violent and so powerful that it flared up from the ground, the Hydra didn't have time to move before spikes emerged from the ground, impaling the machine and ripping it apart.  
"Wow... that was... wow..." Cayde's optics were filled with awe as Lexi stood on shaky legs and stumbled towards him.  
"Look I don't know how long this portal is going to stick"  
"Cayde... what have you-"  
"Stop-stop-stop-stop, look-look, long story and it may look like I don't know what I'm doing but I do," Cayde rushed out, his optics went to Lexi's cocked brow that challenged his claim. "K, maybe not, doesn't matter."  
The Exo then began pointing before speaking again, Lexi noted how he spoke with his hands a lot when he was distressed.  
"Killing the power source at the origin point should break the loop and get me out of the portal system!" The Exo said hurriedly. "Have you got that? Say you've got that, say something!" The Exo's frustration caused him to yell.  
"Looks like I'm saving your ass," Lexi said playfully. "But how did you-"  
"Oh my cotton socks! Did you not hear what I just said!" The portal disappeared, Cayde along with it. Lexi sighed softly, looking to Seraph, the Exo's Ghost making a comment of why the Vanguard don't let him leave the Tower... well when there was a Tower.  
"Well... let's go free our Vanguard." Seraph smiled softly.


	8. Chapter 8

"Okay I hate Thralls, but I really hate Harpys too!" Lexi called as she dashed behind a fallen rock. She took several deep breaths before peeking out, aiming her gun carefully and firing at the machine's weak spot. A bright light filled the room as Seraph used his Arcstrider ability, wiping out the hoards of Vex enemies trying to kill them. Lexi was seriously going to have one hell of a word with Cayde after all this was over.  
"Maybe I should put myself in a ridiculous situation and have Cayde go through several battlefields swarming with enemies to free me!" Lexi hissed as a bullet scraped her cheek. The young woman jumped down from the column she'd seeked refuge on and severed the spine of the Goblin that shot her.  
"You know how you said earlier about either kissing him or punching him?" Seraph started.  
"Oh believe me, I'm more than leaning towards punching him. Hard!" Lexi grumbled as the battlefield fell silent.  
"Grab what ammo you can and let's get moving." Seraph began searching for whatever useful items the Vex had on them. After a brief conversation with Failsafe, followed by walking up a set of stone steps, the group entered a small room, a device sat on a pedestal, emitting the same blue light of Cayde's moving prison.  
"This is the Vex teleporter?" The Ghost questioned, peering at the device.  
"Yes! The Cayde-6 will want it. You should pick it up!" Failsafe voiced. A moment after Seraph gathered the teleporter in his grasp, Cayde's voice was heard yelling joyfully.  
"Take that, you scrap heap! I'm out, baby! Out! Woo!"  
Lexi burst out laughing, hearing her lover's voice so happy. Not much longer now till she was in his arms. Her heart was beating hard at the thought.  
"C'mon stop fantasing Lexi." Seraph teased. Lexi blushed and cleared her throat.  
"Hey babe! Where are you?" Lexi asked hopefully.  
"Hey! You guys did it! You got me out! Ha! Haha!" The Hunter paused a minute, Lexi could almost see her lover looking around wondering where he was, she was proved right as he went on, "And... wh-where... where am I?"  
"Cayde Unit, you are near the remains of my reactor core. Welcome to the Exodus Black!" Failsafe explained, then she malfunctioned, "Where all your dreams come true."  
"Looks like you met my new friends, Failsafe and her evil twin, Failsafe!" Cayde spoke.  
"Which is the evil one?" Seraph's Ghost whispered, looking between his Guardian and Lexi. The young woman snickered as the AI gave her response. As Seraph and Lexi jogged across Nessus to reach the Exodus Black, they were kept up to date with what was happening.  
  
"This is gonna be rough." Lexi grumbled as she crouched down behind part of the Exodus Black's remains. The entire field ahead was swarming with Vex and Fallen fighting against each other. It was nothing the duo couldn't take care of, what made the task more difficult was the Vex Gate Lord stopping any attempt to get to Cayde.  
"I'll let you take care of the big bastard, and I'll wipe out the little ones." Lexi offered a smile to the Exo.  
"Thanks." Seraph sighed before jumping over the metal ruin and running straight into the fight. While the Exo took most of the fire, keeping the enemy attention on him, Lexi sneaked around each of the smaller Fallen and Vex battles and quickly, professionally wiped them out.  
"You done yet!" Seraph called over the comms.  
"On my way!" Lexi called back. With the two of them teaming up, it wasn't long until the Gate Lord fell. Lexi hissed lightly as they ran towards the Exodus Black's reactor core.  
"You good?" Seraph's Ghost questioned.  
"Yeah. My arm was hit a few times, some wires are fried. Feels like my nerves are on fire." Lexi answered honestly.  
"Take it easy. We get in another fight, you step back and use your sniper alright?" Seraph told his companion. Lexi agreed.  
"Exodus Black up ahead." Phoebe stated as the group rounded the corner.  
"Okay. I'm going to find a vantage point. Start thinning out the crowd." Lexi grasped her sniper and dashed off to find the highest metal structure. After killing the Fallen surrounding her chosen vantage point, Lexi carefully aimed at the Fallen Captain who was trying to break down the energy shield of the ship. The young woman killed any enemy that got too close to Seraph.  
"Come here you bastard." Lexi whispered softly. She fired several more shots at the Captain before turning her sights to the Shanks and Dregs scurrying around.  
  
"What the?" Lexi murmured as she looked through her scope, trying to find the Captain but finding nothing.  
"Lexi move now!" Seraph's panicked voice came over the comms. Lexi pushed herself to her knees and took a step. Something heavy crushed her prosthetic and pinned her down to the ground. Lexi let out a cry as the metal screeched and crunched, wires severing and snapping. Lexi's fingers curled into her palm, her nails digging deep into the skin. Lexi felt the heat of an explosion hit the Captain, pushing the Fallen backwards, relieving the pressure on her prosthetic.  
"Lexi, get behind a shield! Just stay where you are!" Seraph's voice was shaken. Lexi cursed as she put up an energy field around herself and let herself collapse to the ground. Her prosthetic spasmed every few seconds, fiery pain raced through her veins. She watched delirious as Seraph fought the Fallen. Whenever she could she'd send out energy blasts through the shield, attaching them to nearby enemies and smiling softly through the pain as they fell. A shout from her companion drew her attention to Seraph on the ground, shooting up at the Captain. Lexi's eyes widened as the Captain rose his foot again. The woman slammed her right hand against the ground, and watched as purple energy raced towards to Captain. The spikes buried themselves into the Fallen's shoulders and legs, pinning him in his position, giving enough time for the Exo to move. Seraph used his Arcstrider ability and took advantage of the pinned Fallen to unleash a flurry of attacks. The Fallen screeched as it went limp in the energy spikes. Lexi's breathing was heavy as she dropped the shield, allowing Seraph to cradle her in his arms.  
"Hey! Stay with me. I'll disconnect the nerve system. Hold on." Seraph had worry in his voice as his fingers fiddled with the shoulder of the prosthetic. Lexi nuzzled her head into the Exo's chest as he tried to find the connection cables. She whimpered softly as he brushed against the broken wires, her prosthetic shaking and making unwanted movements, the pain still fresh. Abruptly Lexi relaxed in the Exo's hold as he finally found and disconnected the cables.  
"Can you sit? I'll put a sling to hold it until we get back." Seraph softly guided Lexi to a sitting position. Lexi held herself up with the help of Phoebe at her back while the Exo ripped some fabric from the Fallen Captain. He made a sling to hold her prosthetic and then helped her to her feet.  
"Thanks Seraph." Lexi hugged the Exo tightly.  
"Thanks for pinning the bastard so I could kill him." Seraph hugged her back. All animosity forgotten between them.  
"Lets go see that boyfriend of yours." Seraph led Lexi to the now deactivated energy shield, a smile on his face.  
  
Seraph helped Lexi walk across the field to get to the opening of the ship where Cayde was held up. The group wandered into the ship and looked for their Vanguard. As they rounded a corner a Ghost floated up from behind some metal steps. Phoebe rushed forward and barrelled into the Ghost, nuzzling against the shell. Through the years the two Ghosts had become unbelievably close, despite Phoebe knowing that Cayde's Ghost was just an AI, the creature had a rather large crush on it. She tried to hide it, poorly might I add. Abruptly an Exo popped up from behind the steps a brow raised in question. Lexi raced towards him, tripping on the steps before jumping into his chest, wrapping her good arm around him.  
"Woah, woah, woah!" Cayde laughed as he spun Lexi around, a bright laugh coming from the woman. After he stopped Lexi leaned up and pressed her lips against his mouthplates, the Exo cradled the back of her head as she kissed her back, the metal cold against her warm lips. Cayde tipped Lexi back until he held her in a cliché romantic position, his mouthplates still moving gently against hers. A small cough drew the lovers apart. Lexi cursed the Exo's inability to blush, as her face turned red as she remembered Seraph stood a couple feet away.  
"So its true. The light found its way back to you," Cayde nodded to the other Exo in the room. "Not that I'm jealous or nothin', but take it easy out there, will ya? You're making me look bad." Cayde sauntered up the steps, his arm around Lexi's shoulder, keeping her against his side.  
"So... do I have to be worried that you've been galavanting around with a handsome Exo? I mean of course I'm the more handsome Exo, but... do I ... need to be worried I mean?" Cayde cocked a brow as he looked between Lexi and Seraph. Lexi shook her head, a small laugh coming from her lips.  
"You fancy lending your girl an arm, hers is broke." Seraph said as he handed Cayde the Vex teleporter.  
"I quite like my arm where it is thanks."  
"What, just like with your 'beautiful, beautiful horn'?" Lexi teased.  
"Hey it is a beautiful horn! You even said you like it!" Cayde pouted.  
  
Lexi curled up to Cayde's side as they travelled back to the Farm. He tried tinkering with the wires in the young woman's arm, but did more harm than good.  
"Amanda's gonna kill me... again." Lexi murmured, exhaustion finally taking over.  
"Amanda's safe." Cayde breathed, relieved. Lexi hummed.  
"And our little poltergeist?" Cayde asked slowly.  
"With Arux at the Farm. She's safe." Lexi whispered as she laid her head on Cayde's lap.  
"Good." He whispered as he stroked Lexi's hair, watching her fall asleep. The Exo fiddled with something in his grasp as he looked down at the young woman. He'd had one hell of a time since the Cabal attacked. Now that he could finally breathe, with the woman he loved in his arms, his daughter waiting for him, the fact that Zavala needed him, it was the best he'd felt in weeks. In fact, he was looking forward to having some time alone with Lexi, they'd been together for about a decade, strong the whole time, and he'd decided on something, something big. He was willing to gamble on the uncertain result, he didn't know how long until his rebirth would come to a final end.  
"You're awfully quiet Cayde?" Seraph called back to his Vanguard.  
"Nah, just thinkin' that's all."  
"Oh that's dangerous isn't it?" Seraph teased.  
"Oh, haha, very witty kid."  
Cayde gently shook Lexi's shoulder to wake her as the ship landed.  
"We're back!" He whispered. Lexi slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. The Exo helped her to her feet and walked with her to the door. As it opened, Lexi spotted Ziva stood nearby, bouncing on her feet, excited squeals coming from her lips. She turned to see Cayde doing the exact same, bouncing from foot to foot and small excited sounds leaving his mouth. Suddenly when the door opened enough, the Exo slid out and ran towards Ziva. He scooped her up and raised her high in the air spinning around and laughing. Lexi looked to Seraph to see him making his way to her side.  
"He's a good father." Seraph noted.  
"He really is." Lexi agreed. Cayde held Ziva on his hip as he blew against her cheek, making her giggle and try to push him away. Lexi made her way over to father and daughter.  
"Mommy, Daddy is back! He's back Mommy!" Ziva exclaimed.  
"Of course! Mommy saved Daddy's ass because Daddy got into trouble." Ziva said playfully. The Exo's jaw dropped.  
"Hey! No fair!" Cayde argued.  
"Daddy! Daddy look what I can do!" Ziva cried out, grabbing her father's attention. The little girl focused for a while and then suddenly she was able to manipulate her abilities to give herself the appearance of wearing a Hunter's cloak. Cayde gave a happily surprised laughed, bouncing his little girl up and down on his hip.  
"Hey you wanna be a badass Hunter like Daddy?"  
Ziva nodded her head profusely, Cayde then gently placed her on the ground and took her hand.  
"Well c'mon then, there's a lot I gotta teach you!" Cayde nodded his head towards the Farm. The Awoken girl began to pull on Cayde's arm. The Exo reached out and wrapped his arm around Lexi's waist and quickly tugged her to him, making her press against his chest.  
"I'm gonna play with Zee for a while, we'll talk later?" He spoke softly. Lexi brought her hands up to either side of Cayde's neck, gently caressing the metal as she spoke.  
"Zee needs some mega playtime with her Daddy, I can't seem to make playtime as fun as you do. Then of course we'll talk, I'm just glad to be in your arms again." Lexi smiled shyly.  
"Its good to feel you against me again. Plus I've been forced to talk to myself for weeks, Failsafe wasn't good company." The Exo revealed. Lexi chuckled. She leaned up and pressed a loving kiss to the Exo's mouthplates. Slowly the Exo started to let her go, allowing his daughter to pull him away. Lexi gently poked the Exo's horn.  
"I really do like that horn of yours." She smiled. Cayde pointed at her.  
"Ha! I knew it!"  
  
"She's asleep." Cayde mentioned as he sat down on the barn roof beside Lexi. He leaned back on his elbow and brought one knee up.  
"You've tired her out." Lexi smiled at the Exo. She shuffled over to the Hunter and began fiddling with his armour, before resting her hand on his hip.  
"Its good to have you back Cayde." Lexi whispered softly. The Exo nudged her chin up with his finger, a smile on his face.  
"Good to be back." He agreed.  
"Cayde... what happened to you during the attack?" Lexi inquired.  
"Well I beat my old record of consecutive kills-"  
"Cayde... seriously... that day was a mess... complete chaos... how did you even escape?" Lexi interrupted, squeezing the Exo's hip. Cayde sighed before answering.  
"Well, I got rejected on my date with Gary," Lexi rolled her eyes, a small laugh escaping her lips. She should've known the Exo wouldn't recall the attack without adding a few jokes in. Perhaps it was how he coped with the loss of his home, the certain loss of some of his Hunters. "I was busy taking down Cabal when the... when the Light left us... man that made running into the thick of it a bit more risky."  
"A bit? Cayde you risked your life to fight Cabal?"  
"There was a kid... not much older than Zee..." he drifted off as his fist clenched.  
"I see..."  
"I tried to get as many folks out y'know. Man the City was a mess... everything gone... even the ramen shops..."  
"At least Zee won't complain now."  
Cayde gave Lexi a playful glare.  
"When I'd done all I could, I took the first ship I could find, mind you it wasn't the nicest one. So I went off looking for someway to get rid of Ghaul. I knew Vex had some pretty good tech, thought I might be able to find a teleporter or something. Y'know so I could just bam," Cayde made a gun gesture with his fingers "And it would all be over. It was a rough flight out though, ship got banged up a bit, I only just made it to Nessus."  
"Did... did you ever think to look for us?" Lexi looked away as she asked.  
"Yeah... but you guys were on an evacuation ship, you were safe. If I could end this war, I'd be bringing you back to a home being fixed up."  
"Cayde... I put Ziva on a ship, I left to fight. Ziva wasn't even safe, the ship was shot down, the Fallen took her, she was missing for weeks." Lexi confessed. The Exo sighed and let himself drop back so he was laid on his back, looking at the stars.  
"Babe... you can't take on the Red Legion all by yourself... you just can't... you're mortal now... you die, you're leaving everyone behind. Once we find Ikora on Io, and have a unified plan, we can try and take down Ghaul."  
"Not we Lex. I want you to stay on the Farm with Zee. At the minute you're armless and so, harmless. You can die out there just as much as I can. Just... Ziva needs at least one parent, we can't orphan our little girl." Cayde's voice was low, sad even as he spoke.  
"Okay... I'll stay... I promised Zavala I'd find Ikora... but, he'd also want me to stay alive. Seraph's more than capable of getting her back." Lexi pressed a soft kiss to the Exo's cheek.  
  
Lexi was huddled against Cayde as the night went on, bringing with it the bitter cold. The Exo kept the young woman tight to his side, pressing small loving kisses to her face and shoulder. They enjoyed being by each other's side. No need to talk, although Cayde couldn't seem to stay quiet for long, airing a random thought that came into his circuits.  
"If there wasn't this war to worry about, this would be super romantic wouldn't it?" Lexi whispered, laying her head on the Exo's chest, over where his heart would be.  
"Look at you being sappy." He teased.  
"Hey over the years you've been just as sappy!"  
"True." Cayde whispered as he gently took the prosthetic Lexi still had in a sling. He played with the metal fingers, watching as they freely moved with his touch. In his other hand the Hunter seemed to be moving something about, the Exo's brow was furrowed in contemplation.  
"Cayde... you're gonna blow a gasket in a minute." Lexi giggled, reaching up to brush her fingers against the Exo's temple. He gave a soft chuckle. Lexi heard the sound of metal against metal and peered down to see Cayde sliding something onto one of her fingers, before holding her hand covering her fingers from view. Lexi looked over to Cayde, a brow raised.  
"Y'know how sometimes life changing stuff puts everything into perspective?"  
"Yeah?" Lexi drew out.  
"Well... look, I ain't saying I'm gonna but ain't saying I'm not. Getting up and personal with Ghaul is going to be rough, can see some real hairy moments coming out of it. Like you said, I'm... mortal. I kick the bucket and that's it. So... I ain't leaving without asking. We've been through a lot, you and I. Had one hell of a time as well. Look what I'm trying to ask is... Lexi... would you make me one real happy guy?" Cayde's voice was filled with love, but laced with apprehension.  
"Cayde... are you... are you asking me to... marry you?" Lexi stumbled out, her voice brimming with disbelief.  
"Yeah." The Exo answered quietly.  
"Cayde-6 of the Vanguard," Lexi cupped the Exo's jaw and forced him to look at her. "I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the rest of my life!"  
Cayde seemed to work through what Lexi had just said, his brow furrowing as her answer went through his circuits. Suddenly Cayde jumped up, laughing joyfully, his optics glowing bright. Lexi burst out laughing as she watched her lover... her fiancé, bouncing on his toes. She shook her head and glanced down to her prosthetic, there, sat on her ring finger, was a metal ring. She carefully removed it and scrutinised it.  
"Cayde... is this-"  
"A nut from a Vex. Yup. Picked it up on Nessus." He sat back down, pulling Lexi onto his lap. Lexi chuckled as she slid it back onto her ring finger. She turned and wrapped her arm around the Exo's chest, hugging him tightly.  
"I love you Cayde." Lexi kisses the Hunter gently, lovingly.  
"I love you too Lex." He nuzzled his temple against Lexi's. Slowly they both laid back on the barn roof and watched the stars above. They held each other tightly, Cayde had wrapped his cloak around Lexi's shivering frame, his scarf around her neck, all to keep her warm. Lexi showered the Exo with kisses. Cayde knew, if his rebirth was to finally come to an end, he could die the happiest he'd ever been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment xx


End file.
